Saint John Climacus

ST. JOHN CLIMACUS

NOTITIA

Joannes Climacus, so called from his book of 30 chapters, through which, as if by steps or a ladder, one ascends to the summit of religious perfection, is also known as Joannes Sinaita, or Abbot of the holy Mount Sinai, and is termed by the ancients by the surname Scholasticus, or ^A Scholastikos. He lived at the end of the sixth Christian century, around the year 580, and if the faith of the Greek Menaea is to be trusted, he died almost a centenarian on the 30th of March (a), as the Roman Martyrology also holds. His affairs ^B (a) Antonius Magister, nephew of the Arnaldi on his mother’s side, a former eloquent advocate of the Paris Court, a resident of the Port-Royal hermitage, and a true author of various opuscula that have appeared over the last fifteen years under fictitious or borrowed titles, rendered Joannes Climacus into the vernacular after it had been published in Greek and Latin by Matthaeus Raderus of the Society of Jesus. Then, lest he appear to have drawn anything from a Jesuit, having suppressed his name (which we have often shown to have been done also in the *Lives of the Fathers* and elsewhere), he cleaned up the text at certain points by his own efforts or those of his friends, based on the manuscripts of the Royal and Seguerian libraries. He illustrated it with the scholia of Elias of Crete and others, and with his own observations, prefixing a *Life of Climacus*, which he elegantly stitched together not only from the monk Daniel of Raithu but also from an anonymous work published by said Raderus. A second, more complete edition of these appeared in 8vo in the year 1658, through Petrus Parvus. The same person also reported several things about Climacus in a historical and chronological table, which was printed in the same place in the current year, 1659, after the compilation of the Latin-French *Eucharistic Readings*. I consider the matters that seem to pertain to our undertaking (for I am not inquiring into the translation itself, nor do I complain that it is in many places closer to a paraphrase or an epitome, or that it wanders too far from the Greek text; let those who have more leisure do that) to be reducible to two points. I. That Climacus was held in great esteem among the Greeks, as is evident from the questions of Athanasius, Elias of Crete, Theodorus Studita, Philippus Solitarius, Joannes Zonaras, and others. II. That he lived after the year 532, in which St. Sabas died, and survived the year 586 under the Emperor Tiberius II; by a conjecture that is indeed very fragile, I propose that he was born around the year 525 under the reign of Justin I and the pontificate of John I; that in the sixteenth year of his life, in the year of Christ 541, he donned the monastic habit; that he persevered in solitude and in the monastery for nearly 60 years; that he was created Abbot of Mount Sinai at the end of the sixth century of Christ; and finally, at the urging of Joannes, Abbot of Raithu, he wrote those remains which still exist today, and departed to the heavens in the 83rd year of his life, in the year of Christ 605 or 606, two years after the happy departure of Pope St. Gregory the Great from this life. But when the accounts are checked, it is discovered that the Magister has erred, or those assisting him have. For if, born in 525 under Justin and John, he reached or exceeded the age of 85, he should have been said to have died not in 606, but in 610, and to have presided over the Sinaite monks precisely in the year 600, if he was 75 years old when he took the monastic habit in 541. Furthermore, it is necessary that such a laborious construction be easily destroyed if what he himself reports, with little caution at the end of Chapter XV, from the narrative of a Sinaite monk, is true. For that anonymous writer conveys three things. ^C First, that his brother and successor in the governance of the monastery was Georgius. II. That Georgius, four months after the death of his brother, learned through a divine revelation that Petrus, Patriarch of Jerusalem, would also depart from this life after six months. III. That the death of both occurred at the appointed time, ten months after the passing of Joannes Climacus. For the year must be sought in which that Petrus, Patriarch of Jerusalem, died, so that the fatal year of both that most famous anchorite Georgius and of his brother Joannes Climacus, abbots of the Sinites, might be demonstrated most certainly by chronological argument. Theophanes, in his *Chronicle*, reports the beginning of the reign of Petrus at the 19th year of the Emperor Justinian, and in the 1st year of the Emperor Justin II (which we believe to be 566), after 20 years had passed in the episcopate, he assigns him a successor, Macarius, the second of that name. If this were established, we would have to admit that the death of Joannes Climacus should be fixed in the year 565, and that of Georgius and Petrus in 566. But Evagrius opposes this; in Chapter 36 of Book IV, he seems to assign the beginnings of Macarius—while Justinian was still living—in these words: "The See of Jerusalem is held after Martyrius by Sallustius, whom Elias succeeded; after him came Petrus, and Macarius succeeded Petrus, while the emperor was not yet favoring him; he who was later driven from his see," etc.

^A

The deeds of Daniel the monk were written by him and are found in Lipomanus and Surius. Joannes Trithemius errs, both in saying that "Climacus" in Latin sounds like "Scholasticus"—he perhaps meant to say "Scalasticus," or "Scalarium"—and in writing that he flourished around the times of the brothers Constantinus, Constantius, and Constans, who reigned in the year 346, or rather 339, for the elder Constantinus was killed the following year. It is certain, indeed, that he lived after the most illustrious abbot St. Sabas, who departed from this life on the fifth of December, 532. Regarding the same man, Elias the metropolitan of Crete, who wrote explanations on the *Scala*, is thought by some to have been present at the Second Council of Nicaea in 787; among these are Joannes Gerson, Volaterranus, and other more recent authors.

The most perfect edition of all his works, in Greek and Latin, was produced in folio at Paris by Sebastian Cramoisy in this order:

The Introduction of Matthaeus Rader, priest of the Society of Jesus, to the *Scala Paradisi* [Ladder of Paradise] of St. Joannes Climacus, where his life is included, etc.

St. Joannes Climacus’ *Scala Paradisi*, addressed to Joannes, abbot of the monastery of Raithu, newly translated from the Greek and illustrated with Greek scholia translated into Latin, by the same Matthaeus Rader for the use of the reader aspiring toward heaven. It is said to have been first rendered into Latin in the year 1294 by Angelo de Cingulo, of the Order of Minors, who was surnamed Clarenus, and later revised by the Camaldolese monk Ambrosius and printed.

There was added the same St. Climacus’ *Liber ad Pastorem* [Book to the Pastor], published long ago by the same translator, again revised, and explained with similar Greek-Latin scholia.

In Volume V of the *Bibliotheca Magna Parisiensis*, column 178 and following, one reads only in Latin, from the version of the aforementioned Camaldolese monk: the epistle to Joannes the abbot of Raithu, the *Scala Paradisi*, the *De officio pastoris* [On the Office of the Pastor], commentaries on the thirty discourses of Climacus, and the commendation of him made by the same Joannes, abbot of Raithu; the *Life of Climacus* by Daniel, a humble monk of that same monastery of Raithu, briefly written; and the contemplation of the ladder of life mixed in by the same.

There also exists a version printed at Venice in the year 1590, the *Climacus* translated into Greco-barbarian or the vulgar tongue by Maximus Margunius, bishop of Cythera, ^B *for the benefit of the Christian people, translated from the Greek dialect into common speech*.

There was also another Joannes, abbot of Mount Sinai, distinct, as they hold, from our Climacus, who is presented in manuscript codices as the genuine author of the history of the Saints Barlaam and Josaphat, which is read in Laurentius Surius on the 27th of November and at the end of the works of St. Joannes Damascene.

Then, in chapter 38, among the patriarchs who stood against Justinian as he introduced a new heresy—Joannes Catelinus the Pope, Joannes Sirimiota of Constantinople, Apollinarius of Alexandria, and Anastasius Sinaita of Antioch—he numbers Macarius, *once again restored to his own see*. Nicephorus of Constantinople assigns only 20 years to Petrus; but to Macarius, his successor, he assigns first two, then four after his restoration. Wherefore it seems strange to me why Baronius, in his *Annales ecclesiastici*, and others before him, assign the death of Petrus to the year 546, or in some cases 545. For it is certain that he lived almost until the final days of Justinian; and therefore, if the anonymous Sinaite monk narrated the truth, the death of Joannes Climacus and his brother Georgius (about whom, and about the death of the patriarch Petrus, Joannes Moschus tells much the same story in chapter 117 of his *Pratum spirituale*) must be sought between the years 560 and 565 of the Christian era, and not relegated to the year 586. Thus, this much may be fixed, however rare it is to find anything certain regarding the year of Climacus' death, and much less can be pronounced regarding his departure into the monastery or the duration of his stay in the desert. But from the mention of him and his brother Georgius, of Abbot Zosimus, Abbot Leo, and many others, it is certain that the *Pratum spirituale* [Spiritual Meadow] of Joannes Moschus—which Dorotheus the archimandrite cited most frequently—was written either not long before or even after the year 600 from the birth of the Virgin. But regarding these facts, when I have taught why I said earlier that the conjecture of those who thought Joannes Climacus lived past the year 586 was fragile.

They seem to have been given a handle for this opinion by the most illustrious Baronius, who ^C in his *Annales* under the aforementioned year recorded both the death of the Emperor Tiberius, who had already died four years prior, and the famous history of Leo the abbot, beheaded by barbarians, which is narrated by Moschus in chapter 112; and also by the old scholiasts who, if one places any faith in the Portuensian conjecturers, regarding those words in Step XXVI, "On Discernment": *For if souls, even those that have acted beyond the commandment, will certainly be persuaded by what has been said, "He who loves his neighbor more than himself, and for his sake has set his own soul, although he has not received the Lord’s command to do so"*—insinuate that Joannes Climacus was looking toward that extraordinary charity of the aforementioned Abbot Leo, as having been exhibited already under the empire of Tiberius, and therefore that he wrote his *Scala* either while Tiberius was living or after his death. But neither do the words of Climacus prove this, ^D since countless Christians before him had laid down their souls for their brothers voluntarily and gladly. And his words can be rendered thus: *"This will persuade you—whoever has loved his neighbor more than himself,"* etc. Nor does the Greek interpreter edited by Rader hint at anything else here with the phrase *abaas Aeon* than that Abbot Leo can be brought forward as an example of that sentiment, whether he preceded Climacus or followed him. I have not seen Elias of Crete. But Joannes the abbot of Raithu—whether he was a contemporary of Climacus or someone else later—in the scholia whose Greek text is hitherto missing, has these things: "He speaks of Abbot Leo, that is, it can be understood as one who voluntarily handed himself over to death for the sake of winning over a certain brother, or of the military magistrate who, in Corinth, chose to suffer death for the sake of preserving the virginity of a certain maiden." From which it is clear to everyone that both Leo and the magistrate were brought into the middle solely for the sake of explanation.

THE COMPLETE WORKS OF SAINT JOHN CLIMACUS, COMMONLY CALLED THE LADDER-MAKER

EDITED AND TRANSLATED BY MATTHÄUS RADER. (Paris, at the expense of Sébastien Cramoisy, Rue Saint-Jacques, at the sign of the Storks. 1633, folio, with Royal Privilege.)

TO HIS EMINENCE, THE CARDINAL DUKE OF RICHELIEU.

Your virtue, most Eminent Cardinal, and your merits have raised you to the pinnacle of dignity and authority, so that we may venerate and look up to you from afar; yet no one is allowed to reach you or behold you more closely, unless he proceeds by following your footsteps and the rungs of your virtues, whether by imitating or by admiring them. And I am of the number of those who, placed in the lowest position, admire you constantly, and everywhere suspect and proclaim your piety toward God, your kindness and beneficence toward all men, your moderation in your private affairs, and indeed your wisdom, faith, and the incredible power of your intellect in public matters. And now, because you allow, most Eminent Cardinal, that I be given access to you, I bring ladders, upon which your virtues, distinguished as if by certain rungs, prepare a way for me and for others to your highness, and indeed lay out a convenient and short path for you toward the heavenly Divinity.

Most devoted to Your Eminence,

SÉBASTIEN CRAMOISY.

MATTHAEI RADERI OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS, PRIEST: INTRODUCTION TO THE LADDER OF PARADISE OF ST. CLIMACUS. CHAPTER ONE.

Who Climacus is, and whether the same author is Joannes Sinaita, and Joannes Climacus, and St. Joannes, abbot of Mount Sinai, surnamed Scholasticus.

For my part, there has never been any doubt in this matter, that I should deem one and the same person to be Joannes Sinaita, and Joannes Climacus, and Joannes, abbot of Mount Sinai, surnamed Scholasticus. Indeed, I read thus in Greek codices written by hand: *Epistle of Abbot Joannes Sinaita to Joannes, abbot of the monastery of Rhaithu.* In the same volume there follows concerning the same: *Life of Abbot Joannes, abbot of the holy Mount Sinai, surnamed Scholasticus, truly holy, written in summary by (Daniel) the monk of the monastery of Rhaithu, a venerable man, and excellently adorned with virtues.* And in the same codex: *Book of Religious Discipline by Joannes, abbot, prefect of the monks on Mount Sinai.* There follows in the same, at the end of the book: *Concerning Abbot Joannes, prefect of Mount Sinai, or the author of the LADDER.* And on the front of the book: *Joannes Sinaita.* ^A Here you recognize that St. Joannes, abbot of Mount Sinai, surnamed Scholasticus, and Joannes Sinaita, and Joannes Climacus are the same person. You will say the same from other copies of the same author written in Greek, both in the Bavarian library and in other libraries of Europe, which I shall praise below. You will say:

*Truly, what need is there to show the sun which is shining by itself?* *Often that is night to others which is a bright day to you.*

For Jacobus Billius, a man otherwise well-steeped in Greek and Latin letters, a Gaul by race, noble in talent and birth, a religious by profession, and president of the monastery of the Hermitage of St. Michael in Lower Brittany, lays a hand [on this matter]—he who, among other things, translated the history of SS. Barlaam and Josaphat from Greek into Latin, and makes St. Joannes Damascenus its author, in the amending and translating of whose works he labored much and with great praise; yet he confuses Joannes Sinaita with Joannes, a monk of Thebais. The reason which led Billius into error was that it seemed uncertain whether the history of Barlaam and Josaphat was written by ^B Damascenus, or by some other person; and by some it is even attributed to Joannes Sinaita, that is, Climacus. So, therefore, that Billius might claim it for Damascenus and deny it to the Sinaite, he argues thus in his preface to the reader: "I see that the author of the following history is doubted by some; for some deem Damascenus to be its true author, but others contend that it is falsely attributed to him. And certainly in the codex of the most famous man, Fumaeus, it is ascribed to Joannes Sinaita."

For my part, although I do not think it matters much to the reader whose it is, provided it is worthy of pious reading—as indeed it is—if, nevertheless, I may be allowed to interpose my judgment, I do not hesitate to affirm that it is the true offspring of Damascenus. For, to omit the fact that Trapezuntius, a man by nation a Greek and of great name not only among his own, but also among ours, has put forth none other than Damascenus as its author, first, the very phrasing, being most similar to his other works, testifies that Damascenus is the author. Then, to confirm this opinion, that which is of great importance to me is that, just as in the books *On the Orthodox Faith* and nearly all the rest, Damascenus willingly gathers many things from Basil, Gregory Nazianzen, and other Fathers of the same note, and often adopts whole verses, ^C indeed even whole periods from them, in the same way I have noticed that in this history too, many things are produced from the same authors, [though] the name is suppressed in the meantime, and especially from Nazianzen, as in chapters 7, 8, 10, 11, 15, 17, 20, 24, and in very many other places. Add to this that he not only willingly borrows from them, but also brings forward many things transcribed word for word in the books *On the Orthodox Faith*, such as all those things which he discusses in chapter 15 concerning free will. Which, indeed, in my opinion, he would not do so openly unless he were using them as his own by his own right. Finally, in chapter 19, that disputation about images, which was burning in the age of Damascenus, confirms me not a little in the same opinion.

But as all these things make for Damascenus, so they most openly prove that this history is by no means by Joannes Sinaita. For since he lived in the time of the elder Theodosius, as is evident from book X of the *Miscellaneous History* of Paulus Diaconus, how could he have cited in this history—which the author testifies was translated from India—Nazianzen, whose writings were still being bandied about in the hands of men, and also the bishop older than him, and Basil, who completed his life in the time of Valens, although the name is suppressed, in chapter 19, where he treats of images, and in chapter 34? ^D

^A Where Josaphat has that prayer to God, which he drew clearly from the constitutions of Basil, chapter 1? And in what way, likewise, could he introduce Barlaam discoursing on images to the king’s son, when that question had not yet been stirred up at that time? Here Billius confesses that he is the first to attribute the history of Barlaam and Josaphat in the Greek manuscript codex of the illustrious Fuma to John Sinaita. Cardinal Baronius adds, under November 27 in the Roman Martyrology, and also in the Sfortiana library, number 63, that the same history is assigned to John Sinaita as its author, although in Possio’s description of the Sfortiana library, number 15, it is missed along with many others, because an imperfect syllabus of books had been transmitted to him. I add the Bavarian Library, in which number 205, these words are found: "The history of Josaphat and Barlaam by John Sinaita." The editor of the catalog added: "which is commonly ascribed to Damascene." In the Heidelberg manuscript number 200, the same exists in Greek without an author; elsewhere in the same, number 59, it is ascribed to Damascene, perhaps because of the opinion of the man who wrote out that catalog. One would have to come to the current subject. But Billius denies that John Sinaita is the author of that history, and thinks that he has the matter settled from a calculation of the times, as you have learned from his words. But Billius has strayed far from the truth in his whole path. For what he teaches from Paul the Deacon (a) that John Sinaita lived in the age of Theodosius the Great, ^B he has missed the mark entirely. The Deacon's words are: "Meanwhile, considering the outcome of the war, he sent to the Thebaid for the monk John to discern clearly; to whom (Theodosius) sent the eunuch Eutropius, most faithful to him, so that either he might lead him (if he were willing to come), or, if he were unwilling, might inquire of him about the outcome of the war." But he was unable to lead John, but he brought back his mandate: that he would conquer and kill the tyrant, and after the victory would die in Italy. There is nothing here about John Sinaita, not even in a dream by the Deacon. This monk, the prophet of Theodosius, was an anchorite of the Thebaid. John Sinaita was many parasangs away from the Thebaid, a dweller of Mount Sinai, an abbot, having entered the monastery in the sixteenth year of his age, and having administered the prefecture for many years and relinquished it to his own brother, as I showed in his Life; he never lived with Theodosius, but lived one hundred and eighty-five years after Theodosius. Moreover, for that anchorite who predicted the victories and death to Theodosius, Rufinus the Presbyter of Aquileia wrote of his deeds, life, and prodigies, and it exists in Rosweyd’s second book of the Holy Fathers (b). Mention of the same is in the Roman Martyrology of March 27 and in the Menaea of September 20, where he is called an Egyptian. Thus, the reasoning of Billius falls, since that Theodosian John has nothing at all to do with our Sinaita. Cardinal Bellarmine also, in his *Ecclesiastical Writers*, observed concerning ^C D. Damascene that the history of Barlaam seems to be a doubtful offspring of Damascene, although he calls it a useful and distinguished history: "But because Barlaam," he says, "while instructing his disciple Josaphat, orders him to believe in the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son, a doubt has arisen whether this could be the work of John Damascene, who in book 1, *On the Orthodox Faith*, chapter 2, teaches that the Holy Spirit does not proceed from the Son, but through the Son." But it can be answered that in the history of Barlaam, that little phrase, "from the Son," seems to have been added by someone; for in the new edition corrected by Billius, "from the Son" is not present. A doubt also exists as to whether this narrative is a true history, or rather one invented for the instruction of noble adolescents, such as the Life of Cyrus in Xenophon. Furthermore, it is certain that it is a true history from the fact that St. John Damascene at the end of the history invokes the saints Barlaam and Josaphat, whose deeds he had written, and the Catholic Church, in the Martyrology, venerates the same saints Barlaam and Josaphat as described on the 27th of November. But if you ask what I myself think, I would say with the good peace of learned men, that this fruit regarding Barlaam and Josaphat seems to be neither of St. John Sinaita/Climacus, ^D nor of D. Damascene, and much less of that St. John the Egyptian from the Thebaid; but of John the monk from the monastery of St. Sabas. So testifies the manuscript syllabus of the Palatine Library of Heidelberg, number 68, where these words are read (c): "The Life of Barlaam and Josaphat, brought from the interior region of the Ethiopians or Indians to the holy city by John the monk of the brotherhood of St. Sabas." I believe this same John the monk of Sabas is represented in the royal library of the Escorial in Spain, where the following is said about the same history: "Exposition of John the monk on Barlaam and Josaphat." The same author of the history is handed down in the library of the Republic of Augsburg, clearly and expressly, number 79: "Of John the monk, a virtuous and honorable man of the monastery of St. Sabas, a history of the interior India, of the Ethiopians of India, containing the life of Barlaam and Josaphat." And in the Bavarian, number 17: "A useful narrative, brought from the interior region of the Ethiopians, which is called India, to the holy city, by John, archimandrite of the monastery of St. Sabas." This book is inscribed *Barlaam*, and it is that very history which is commonly attributed to Damascene. Unless you wish to drag these testimonies to Damascene himself, who was also called John, and who eventually withdrew from the forum and crowds into the laura of St. Sabas: but since in all library indices, where his works are listed, he is always called Damascene, undoubtedly, if Damascene had written this history of Barlaam, the name of Damascene would also have been expressed on the title page, just as it was in his other works. However, the fact that much is taught in this history drawn from the writings of Damascene on the orthodox faith, seems to count for little for Damascene, since things that have become public property can be used by anyone: nor was it appropriate that Barlaam, while disputing about the faith among pagans or a neophyte, should praise a witness unknown and private. The argument is equal for SS. Basil and Nazianzen, of whom it was sufficient to have brought forth their arguments and proofs; the names were not necessary.

That I easily understand that Saint John Sinaita, or Climacus, is not the author of this history, I hold not for the reason which Billius brings forward, who confuses the Sinaita with the Theban and Egyptian John, and has supposed him to be the same person, and has recorded that the Sinaita lived at the time of the Emperor Theodosius the Great, who died in the year 395—a thing which could not happen, as I showed in the notes to the *Pastor* of Climacus, where I refuted Trithemius, who assigns the same Climacus to Constantine the Great and his sons. Therefore, Bellarmine rightly placed him in the year 550. As for why I do not consider Climacus to be the writer of the history of Barlaam, this is what Billius also rightly observed: for although Saint John Sinaita Climacus wrote eventually after the five-hundredth year of Christ, there was nevertheless no question in that century, nor contention in the Church, born of the veneration or abolition of sacred images, which was agitated especially in the age of the Damascene by the iconoclast Isauricus and Copronymus; yet in the history of Barlaam, chapter 19, it is disputed at length about the adoration of images: which the author of the history could have transcribed from the writers of that century and from the Damascene himself. Regarding the name of John Sinaita, I greatly suspect that something has been changed, and that it should have been written "Joannes Sabaita," not "Sinaita," because he lived and wrote as a monk in the monastery of Saint Saba. For just as John Climacus and Anastasius were called Sinaita, so John Sabaita could have been called such from the monastery of St. Saba, in which he performed his religious duties and spent his life. Now we understand why our same Climacus, the architect of the heavenly ladder, was called Climacus and Scholasticus.

CAPUT II. On the name of Climacus, and the title of the book.

In Greek Ἰωάννης Κλίμαξ, "Joannes Klimax," he is called from the book which he entitled *The Ladder* (Scalam), so that the title of the book passed into a surname for the writer, just as the divine Gregory the First, Pontifex Maximus, is called "Dialogus" from his book of *Dialogues*; Cassian is called "Collator" by the blessed Prosper from the *Conferences* (Collationes) of the Fathers which he composed; Peter Lombard is called "Magister sententiarum" from the sentences of the Fathers and theologians, collected and reduced into an order of subjects; Clement of Alexandria is named for his books of *Stromata*; Strabo is "Geographus" because he described geography and the world; just as Dionysius the Areopagite, on account of his *periēgēsis*, is called "Periegetes" by the Greeks. You might add to these "the Orator," "the Philosopher," "the Astronomer": but because these were called such *par’ exochēn* (by way of excellence), we do not ascribe them here. Meanwhile, those who say "Climachus" are neither to be followed nor endured, because they depart from the total notation and origin of the word; for it is not declined *climax climachos*, but *climacos*, from which the Latin language wrote *Climacus* to suit its own manner and form, that it might avoid the roughness of the straight case. It is read more erroneously in Trithemius as "Clymachus," who interprets the word from the Greek as "scholasticus," a meaning more remote from the Greek word *climax* than *Ganges* is from *Gades*. Perhaps Trithemius had written *scalasticus* from *scala*, although Latin entirely abhors that word; others have said *scalarem*.

*Scholasticus* as a surname, in Greek τοῦ ἐν ἁγίοις Ἰωάννου Κλίμακος, ἐπίκλην Σχολαστικοῦ, of Saint John Climacus, surnamed Scholasticus, *ἀπὸ τοῦ σχὼ τὸ κρατῶ, σχάζω, καὶ σχολάζω*, says Varinus. But *scholastēs* is one thing, and *scholasticos* is another. *Scholiastēs* is a student; *scholasticos* is a doctor, whom the Arbiter [Petronius] called a "cloistered" (umbraticus) doctor, and has raged against that type of man most bitterly: "Not yet," he says, "had the cloistered doctor destroyed talent." He understands the declaimers, of whom he says elsewhere: "By what other kind of furies are the declaimers disturbed who declaim?" And shortly below: "Now, both by the swelling of subject matter and the most empty clamor of sentences, they achieve only this: that when they have come into the forum, they think they have been brought to another world." For declamation was, as Fabius teaches, an image of trials and a rehearsal of forensic actions, which the rhetorician Eumenius explains most aptly: "For neither," he says, "does so much negligence or confidence hold me that I do not know how great the difference is between this battle-line of the forum and those secret exercises of our studies. There talents are armed, here they fight; there is the rehearsal, here the battle is engaged." And Seneca: "It is thought that the school is like a game, and the forum like an arena." But as much as the Arbiter harasses these scholastic and cloistered doctors, Pliny the Younger celebrates the same in his teacher Isaeus, concerning whom, after huge praises and eulogies, he adds this: "For he does nothing else day or night, hears nothing, says nothing; he has passed his sixtieth year, and is still only a *scholasticus*, a kind of man than whom nothing is more sincere, or more simple, or better. But we, who are worn out in the forum and in real lawsuits, learn much malice, even though we do not wish to." School and auditorium [are] like a fictitious case; thus the matter is unarmed, harmless, and no less happy, especially for the elderly.

Great was the authority of these *scholastici*; men of high rank, and emperors, and the most learned and famous people would listen to them, and they would declaim before them: regarding whom, Woverius should be consulted on the Arbiter. A later age transferred the name *scholasticus*, not to declaimers only, but to learned men, eloquent and informed and exercised in all the elegance of letters, although they neither pleaded cases in the forum nor declaimed in the gymnasia. Hence Prudentius, Ambrose, Hilary, and Bede were called *scholastici*.

^A Likewise, Dionysius Exiguus is celebrated of the same sort, and also Serapion the Scholastic, according to Saint Jerome’s *Catalogus illustrium virorum*; Eulogius of Alexandria, according to Palladius in the *Lausiac History*; Procopius Porphyreonites and Cosmas, according to John Moschus; and Gregory, abbot and scholastic, according to the same Moschus. There is also a *Dialogue of an Anonymous Scholastic* in the writings of Symeon the Theologian; and among the Greeks, there are Arabius, Nilus, Leontius Theætetus, Agathius, and Eratosthenes in the *Epigrams*. Therefore, we also rightly place our Climacus in this number, as his varied erudition shines forth everywhere, even in this work, however sacred and religious it may be.

But indeed, the name *scholasticus* has passed even to our own times and customs; for in the highest chairs of prelates and in seats where there are councils and colleges of canons, the name of *scholasticus* is bestowed upon some one of their number—usually the most learned—who examines, together with his colleagues, the erudition of those whom the will of the superiors promotes to sacred orders; and this matter is so well-attested that it requires no authority or testimony. Meanwhile, we do not deny that the name *scholasticus* also fits listeners and pupils, which is a very common usage today. The arbiter in the *Satyricon* says: "While I walked in this heat of speeches, a huge crowd of *scholastici* came into the porch," and what follows.

*Antistes* (prelate) of the Holy Mount Sinai. Mount Sinai (also Sinai, Oreb, and Sinaus, according to Josephus and Justin) is the most famous throughout the world, above all Olymps, Haemus, Caucasi, and Tauri, where the supreme Creator of the world spoke and wrote the laws for the Hebrews, and where the body of Saint Catherine, the renowned heroine and virgin, carried by the ministry of angels to Alexandria, flows with a salutary fountain of oil. There, Climacus offered prayers to God with a most religious company of fathers, at the roots of which mountain the Emperor Justinian built a noble monastery for these religious men. From this mountain have come forth many holy men, whom I shall bring into the middle when the place offers. The mountain rises in a circle, the highest of that region by far, to whose summit one ascends by seven thousand steps, leaving aside the slopes where the ascent is otherwise open. It found its name from the bush, with which it abounds. Regarding Mount Oreb and Sinai, see many things in Bellonius, p. 126 and following. ^B

*Antistes*. To the Greeks, *hēgoumenos* (ἡγούμενος), *hēgemōn* (ἡγεμών) [is] prelate, president, abbot, cenobiarch, *proestōs* (προεστώς), *prostathēs* (προστάτης), [or] *patēr pneumatikos* (πατὴρ πνευματικός), all of which have the same strength of meaning. However, the Greek word *hēgoumenos* has various meanings according to the case with which it is joined. For now, it governs the fourth case, when it is the same as "I think" (*nomizō*); now it is compounded with the third, *proēgoumai* (προηγοῦμαι) or *prosodopoioūmai* (προσοδοποιούμεμαι), "I show the way"; now with the second, when it signifies "I rule" or "I command," as *archō laou* (ἄρχω λαοῦ), "I rule the people," in which meaning it is taken here, *hēgoumenou tou hagiou orous tou Sina* (ἡγουμένου τοῦ ἁγίου ὄρους τοῦ Σινά). *Hēgoumenou*, that is, of the moderator, president, rector, or cenobiarch of the holy Mount Sinai, taking the container for the contained, namely, for the religious men who dwell in the asceterion of Mount Sinai. Furthermore, that Climacus was divinely destined for that office and duty of ruling a religious assembly is shown by those things which I extracted from a Greek manuscript codex of the Bavarian library at the last pages, which I submit below for you to know in Greek and Latin; for they are not included in his *Life* written by Daniel the Monk.

*Scala paradisi* (Ladder of Paradise). No doubt enters the mind that Climacus drew the inscription of his book, which he called *klimax* (κλίμαξ), or ladder, from Genesis chapter 28, where the ladder of Jacob the patriarch is discussed; for thus Moses says there: "And when Jacob had come to a certain place, and wished to rest there after the sun had set, he took of the stones that were lying there, and putting them under his head, slept in the same place. And he saw in a dream a ladder standing upon the earth, and the top of it touching heaven; angels also of God ascending and descending by it, and the Lord leaning upon the ladder." The most holy prelate of the Raithu monastery seems to have provided the occasion for this, who, by a letter in which he mentions Jacob’s ladder, most keenly exhorted Climacus to write this book. Therefore, the most religious Climacus wrote and built this traditional, or metaphorical, religious ladder, whose steps, or thirty rays, have enlightened the whole world and posterity. Following the example of Climacus, others—religious and learned men—have likewise fashioned ladders to heaven. Dionysius composed a ladder of religious, distinguished by five steps, which he called the *Pentateuch*; Gabriel Inchinus, a *Ladder of Heaven*; our Bellarmine, of blessed and eternal memory, [wrote] *On the Ascension of the Mind to God*; and this, in its own way, is the shortest path to heaven for religious, who struggle upward through the straight steps of the ladder, without the long and arduous windings of journeys, firm and secure, unless they knowingly and willingly wish to fall. Hence, ^C to Saint Romuald, founder of the Camaldolese family, a ladder very similar to that of the patriarch Jacob was divinely shown, ^D through which candidates strove toward heaven with great strides. Two were likewise shown to Leo, who was among the first and innermost companions of Saint Francis: "Great was the plain," says Platus, "and in it a certain species of the judgment soon to come; a great multitude of men was present, the trumpets of the angels resounded, and finally two ladders were let down from the highest heaven to the earth, one of white color, the other of purple. To this purple [ladder], Christ was seen from above, clothed in a severe and rather angry appearance. But Francis, a little below him, called his brothers to ascend confidently, [saying] that the Lord so willed it and invited them. And when they boldly set themselves upon the ladders, one from the third, another from the fourth, or from the tenth,"

as well as from the higher and almost the final rungs, they would fall down. Greatly moved by this destruction of his own, Blessed Francis admonished them in a loud voice to hasten to the other, white ladder, for there would be no danger there. And so, when they had approached it, they saw Mary leaning upon it, who, looking upon them most kindly, was also zealously helping them and receiving them one by one, so that without any difficulty they all escaped into heaven. Thus, D. Antonius concerning the death of St. Dominic: The Prior, he says, of Brescia, at the same hour that St. Dominic died, saw a gap in the sky, through which two most white ladders were being let down: the Blessed Virgin held one, Christ the other; and the angels were ascending and descending: and at the end of each ladder a seat was placed, and one sitting upon it, like a Friar Preacher (this was St. Dominic), having his face veiled, as if going towards heaven. Christ and His Mother were drawing the ladders upward, with the seat and the sitter, and then the gap was closed. By the same metaphor, the most august Queen of heaven and eternal Virgin is called the ladder of heaven and the ladder of Jacob, concerning which there are many things from the interpreters of heavenly letters. ^B St. Bernard interprets that ladder as religion: The ladder here, he says, is religious discipline, or the rule of an order, e. g., that by which the beloved of God, Benedict, ascends to heaven: the two sides are humility of mind and austerity of life; the rungs are the various rules and acts of virtues. For the narrow ladder signifies the narrow path of discipline, which leads to heaven. As to the ladder of Jacob, Pererius has many things in his commentaries on Genesis from various writers, who think that the chain of Homer’s Iliad was devised and suspended from it, reaching from heaven even to the earth, and the genii of the Platonists from Apuleius, where he discourses on the demon of Socrates, are found [to be derived from it].

But indeed, Lucifer, and the Babylonian giants, and all the impious, devise ladders higher than heaven itself, and attempt to cast God Himself out of heaven. Hear Isaiah concerning Lucifer affecting divinity (ch. xiv, vers. 13, 15): *Who said in thine heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will sit upon the mount of the covenant, in the sides of the North. I will ascend above the height of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.* But what is the end of this ascent? *Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.* Thus the Babylonian Nimrod began to build a tower reaching to heaven, whose history the poets, after their manner, translated into the fables of the giants, who, by piling mountains upon mountains, fortified a path in order to wage war on heaven. Thus Naso with a thousand other poets: Terra feros partus, immania monstra, gigantes Edidit ausuros in Jovis ire domum. Exstruere hi montes ad sidera summa parabant, Et magnum bello sollicitare Jovem. Fulmina de cœli jaculatus Jupiter arce Vertit in auctores pondera vasta suos.

Of this kind of ladder is that which Dionysius the Carthusian recounts concerning a novice of his own order, to whom the evil genius had applied a ladder, by which he might escape from the religious enclosure and descend to the lower regions. These are the words of Dionysius in his exhortations to novices: "I read that our order once admitted a novice, who under his first manner of life presented himself as a sufficiently laudable monk. But because of him who makes coals burn under his breath, he had no rest either by day or by night; spurred on by Satan to return to the world. At length the wicked taskmaster conquered, and led the wretch into such madness that he began to seek a ladder by which he might pass over the wall adjacent to his cell. So, therefore, being thus affected, when he was thinking anxiously about leaving and was pacing frequently through the garden, he saw, by diabolical faction, a ladder standing which he had never seen there before, and being overly amazed, he said: 'I recognize, O demon, your frauds, and I openly recognize the snares of deception. This ladder which I see would never lift me to heaven, but rather would submerge me into Tartarus. Therefore, that I may deceive you with your own art, I will strive that by this ladder there may be an ascent for me to the heavens, which you have prepared for me to the pit of hell.'" Saying this, and turning back to himself, he returned to his cell, and thereafter remained pious and diligent among his own: yet, always weeping for that impious and foul disposition with many tears, he expiated the perfidy of his mind with constant groans.

A ladder of the same kind appeared during his night rest to Blessed Albert the Great, when he was professed in religion in the monastery of St. Dominic, by which he thought to escape the cloister and return to the world: but, hindered by the great Mother of God and the virgins her companions presenting themselves to him, he persevered, as we showed in the first volume of Holy Bavaria.

Pittacus also, among the Mytilenians, placed a ladder of Fortune in the temples, by which he taught that some ascend to happiness, while others descend to miseries and calamities, by which he might have better referred to virtues and vices and divine providence.

However, it is amusing that which I append from the seventh book of the Strategems of Polyaenus, concerning Cosingas, a priest of Juno and leader of the Thracians. In Thrace there are the tribes of the Ceronia and Scoba, who in war use the priests of Juno as leaders, just as Maro sang of Helenus, .....rex idem hominum divumque sacerdos. There was among them a priest and leader Cosingas, whose commands the Thracians were resisting, whom he himself, knowing the race and their customs, recalled to obedience and submission by such a trick. He built many ladders out of material, and placed one upon another, so that the mass might grow to an immense height.

Why Climacus himself placed thirty steps in his Ladder, he reveals the cause in the final conclusion of his work, when he says: “He who, being the Christ, was baptized at thirty years of age as he appeared, was allotted the thirtieth step in the spiritual ladder, since God is charity.” Just as God spent thirty years in religious quiet, silence, and private exercise, and only after thirty manifested himself to the world through charity and fulfilled the work of our salvation. A symbol of this was Joseph, who only in his thirtieth year was led forth from silence and private life, from servitude and the darkness of prison, and brought salvation to the people as prefect of Egypt, and was called the Savior of the world; and in the Gospel, those who received the seed of the divine word in good soil brought forth thirty, and sixty, and a hundredfold fruit.

Furthermore, Climacus called his book “ascetic,” as appears in the inscription *askēsis*, which for the Greeks means exercise of either body or mind, and *askētēs* refers precisely to both. The sacred writers apply the word to the religious life: so that *askein* means to profess the religious life; one who exercises himself in the religious life, the religious life itself, discourse, prayer, a book on religious life and discipline; *askētika* are things that pertain to that religious life, such as those which Basil the Great wrote—both besides and before Climacus—which are read even today, in which he delivers precepts of living and dictates laws to monks and religious. To this pertain the *Paraenetica* of Dorotheus; the *Conferences* of Cassian; the *Dioptra* of Philip the Solitary, or the "plumb-line" to the monk Callinicus; the *Hortatory Chapters* of Carpathius; those of St. Maximus, Mark the monk, Isaac, Diadochus, Isaiah the abbot, Nilus, and many others, in the description of whose ascetic life—a summary and synopsis of which you can recognize in the monk Basil, prefect of the Laura of Maleinum—as Jacob Pontanus, a very well-known and laudable writer of our society, translated from the Greek and added to the orations of Simeon the Younger. In it, you will understand the whole rationale of asceticism as placed before your eyes and described in one image, as it were. From the same word, the dwellings of religious and monasteries are called *asceteria*, just as they are also called by other origins *phrontisteria*, *archisteria*, *monasteria*, *eucheteria*, *laurae*, *monae*, *mandrae*, *synodiae*, *conventus*, and many others of this kind.

Chapter III. Concerning the life of St. Climacus, with his praises.

^AThe life of John by nickname Scholasticus, commonly Climacus. In another codex (a) there is this inscription, which simultaneously reveals the author of the written life:

The Life written in brief of the Abbot John, prelate of the holy mount of Sinai, by nickname Scholasticus, truly holy in God, written by the monk Daniel of Raithu, a man honorable and conspicuous for virtue.

(a) Which country or noble city brought forth this hero, and educated him before the wrestling-ground of the religious life, so to speak—to say this for certain and verified, I cannot. But what place now holds him, worthy of all admiration, and feeds him with immortal banquets and delights, I am not at all ignorant. For he is now in that royal city, of which the most vocal cicada (Paul) sings, when he exclaims in these words: *Whose conversation is in heaven* ^B; where, with a sense free from all bodily contagion, by mind and intelligence alone, he enjoys in an insatiable manner, with the greatest pleasure, the beauty of the inexhaustible Good, and is flooded and satisfied (b), having received the rewards of his labors worthy of his sweat, and the prize of toilsome toils, having obtained the inheritance therein, being one and for eternity ^C of nature, which is called natural light. This is: satiety of things that are immaterial or devoid of body is the spiritual sense of the soul, which is modified to receive the faculty of contemplation, ^D no differently than the pupil of the eyes of the body, which contain within themselves the light that falls into the sense. Contemplation is knowledge proceeding from the mind. But natural knowledge is conjoined with the state of nature, which they call natural light.

^A And so, he whose foot stood henceforth in uprightness! How he ran the race there with the combatants, I shall declare most clearly. When the blessed one was about sixteen years of age in visible years, but already millennium-aged in intellectual acuity, he offered himself as an unblemished and voluntary sacrifice to the great High Priest. He had brought his body to this Sinai, but, I believe, he had internalized his soul into the heavenly mountain, having considered—from the very sight of the place—that he might reap the greatest guidance and vision toward the Invisible. By means of flight from the world ^B (the protectress of our intellectual maidens), having cut away all unseemly boldness and having put on a becoming humility, he banished—with a most excellent goal—the self-pleasing and self-trusting deceiver upon his entry. Bowing his neck and having entrusted himself to a most excellent tamer of colts, he submitted to the safe guidance of the one who would calm the heavy sea and tread upon the ground with a noble purpose. Thus, he had so truly established himself—as if he possessed an irrational and unwillful soul, and had been entirely stripped of his natural property—that he acted as one lacking reason. Yet, ^C what is far more worthy of admiration: though he had first been initiated into all the disciplines of letters, he nevertheless lived as one unlettered—so indeed does the Cretan ^D write of him: "Though he had been strictly trained in all human wisdom like the laity, he lived as an unlearned and uneducated man, humbling himself for God’s sake, well knowing that 'God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise' [1 Cor. I, 27] and those who were hostile to his self-love, which he reveals through the intellectual acuity that comes from learning for God's sake; he reveals this through these words, to the unlearned teacher..."

^A having passed the years without sloth and always burning with desire and fire. But who is sufficient, as he used to abide there, to celebrate his labors in words, and to be able to recount them with acclaim? How will that which was secretly sown with all toil be clearly spoken? Nevertheless, let us hear at least from the beginning concerning the all-holy essence of the thrice-blessed one. He consumed all things—he who is blamelessly committed to his profession—yet very briefly; and in this, I suppose, wisely breaking the horn of pride, he suppressed the mistress that rages in many, by a scarcity of words shouting to her: "Be silent, be muzzled." By solitude and the absence of people, he extinguished the flame of this furnace, so that in the end it was converted to ashes and completely quieted. ^B With courage, the brave man escaped the worship of idols through fasting and a lack of necessities. And he aroused the moment-by-moment death of the soul, and paralysis, pricking the sting of death; he loosened sobriety of desire, or perhaps even the sensory and subtle bond of grief. To him, the tyranny of the madwoman was already put to death by the sword of obedience. With an unroving body and an even less roving speech, he put the spider-like leech to death. What is the reward of the eighth stage for this beautiful initiate? And what, then, is the ultimate purification? That from which the Bezalel of obedience began, the one of the heavenly Jerusalem has perfected, the Lord having arrived by His own presence—without whom the devil and his kinship will not be cleansed. Where shall I place in our present weaving of the crown that fountain of tears of his, a matter not existing in many, of which the... the truly holy essence; for just as for those rich in the world ^C substance is thought to be wealth, so for the virtuous it is the virtuous life. [alt-version omitted]

"That which is from all things," says the Cretan, "to eat and drink of whatever is set before and served, while giving thanks to God, in no way conflicts with the rule of knowledge. For all things are very good; but to abstain willingly and pleasantly from pleasant and many things is the mark of the highest prudence and knowledge. For we would not easily and pleasantly abstain from these, unless we had tasted of the sweetness and delight of God in all sense and confidence."

^A This hero avoided this with a generous soul. He also pricked and stimulated his daily death, the fainting and paralysis of the soul, by the meditation on death and the last things as if with a goad, and he roused it. He also loosed the web or knot of desires and of all vices and of those affections which fall under the senses with the bond of religious mourning. Furthermore, he had already slain the tyrannical impulse of fury with the dart of obedience. He also destroyed the leech [o] of popular acclaim and glory, which is most similar to the ingenuity of spiders, by rarely going out into public and by more rare speech. What shall I say of the palm reported by this initiate against the eighth vice, pride [p]? What of the highest purity of heart, which this new Besaleel [q] began through obedience, but the Emperor of that heavenly Jerusalem brought to completion by His presence, without whom that sower and stitcher of sins, the devil, along with his legion and tribe [r] of the same lot and form, will never be expelled and overthrown? But in what place shall I arrange the diadem of the present crown of our hero, constructed from a large fountain of tears and gems? A thing to be understood in a few words today, ^B whose secret workshop nevertheless still exists, situated at the extreme foot of the mountain; an antrum, I say, very narrow, as far removed from the common dwellings of himself and others as is enough to keep out and exclude ears that are captious for glory. While meanwhile he, close to heaven, would strike the stars with groans, sighs, and prayers, as they are wont to groan who are either slashed with swords, or scorched with cauteries, or whose eyes are pricked out. He indulged in sleep only as much as was sufficient to guard the soul's essence and not to harm it with wakefulness. He prayed much before sleep and arranged his tablets; for this was his only remedy against despondency. His whole course was unceasing prayer and an unspeakable love for God; for he did not wish to ^C be sated, or rather, to speak more appropriately, he could not, of Him whom he, beholding as in a mirror in the purity of chastity, envisioned night and day. A certain Moses, one of those pursuing the solitary life, being goaded by his zeal, begged intensely to become his student and to be instructed in the true philosophy; and having stirred up great men as ambassadors, he obtained through their supplications that he be accepted by him. So on one of the days, the Great One ordered Moses to move earth from a certain place for the watering of vegetables and for irrigation; and indeed, having reached the place indicated, he carried out what was commanded ungrudgingly. But when the extreme scorching heat and the steady midday sun had taken hold (for it was now the last of the months), Moses, having reclined under a huge stone, was enjoying rest by sleeping. The Lord, not wishing to anticipate ^D His own servants in a state of distress, as He is accustomed—for the one who was in his cell and was communing with himself and with God...

On the eighth vice

^A He was carried into a certain very slight fleeting vision, and he saw one appearing as if divine who was rousing him from sleep, and mocking that sleep, saying to him: "John, how do you sleep so carefree, while Moses remains in danger?" Rising up quickly, he armed himself with prayer for his student. Then, about the evening hours, when he had caught up with him, he asked him whether anything untoward or unexpected had happened to him. He replied: "A rock of immense size was about to crush me, while I was sleeping beneath it, had I not, thinking that you had called me, sprung out of the place by a leap." But the truly humble man told him nothing of what he had seen, and with secret cries and the violence ^B of love, he praised the good God. A friend's genuineness is shown in time of trial, when he becomes a partner in the necessity. A faithful friend is a strong shelter; since he is a counselor to the friend even when he is prosperous, and is a good fellow-worker and brother in spirit; and when disaster strikes, he is a most genuine helper or a most sympathetic defender.

Of the way he was a type, and a healer of hidden wounds

He was also a model of virtues and a healer of hidden diseases, as is known from a certain Isaac, who, being oppressed by the most grievous tyranny of the fleshly demon and cast almost into despair, hastened running to this great man, and laid bare his domestic war, interspersed with tears and sobs. Wondering at his faith, and being himself much more to be wondered at, he said: "Come, friend, let us both flee to prayer." ^C When the final words of intercession were completed, and while the sufferer was still prostrate on his face, God was indeed doing the will of his servant, so that he might not show David to be a liar; the snake fled, being tamed by the lashes of fervent prayer; and the sick man, seeing himself free of illness, stood up on high, and sent up thanksgiving to Him who was glorified together with the one who was glorified. But some, stung by envy [by the sting of envy], called him a chatterer and a trifle-maker; he taught them by his deeds, demonstrating to all that he was powerful in everything through Christ who gives him strength. ^D He has remained entirely silent for a year. That he is good is clear, and he is a fellow-worker and brother in spirit; and to the one suffering ill, he is a most genuine helper or a most sympathetic defender.

^A Stung by envy, he tried to silence the chatterbox and babbler by refuting them with his very deeds and examples, showing to all that he could do all things in Christ who gives strength to all. Thus, for the space of a whole year, he remained so silent that those very men who had slandered him came as suppliants to ask him and implore him not to block the perennial fountain of usefulness and bring the salvation of all into jeopardy by his silence. He immediately yielded to their petitions, as one who could not even know how to offer resistance, and he returned to his former manner of life. Whereupon all, admiring his virtue in all things, dragged him by force to the prefecture of the monastery, as if he were some newly manifested Moses, and they placed the lamp of instruction upon the lampstand. Nor, in truth, did he disappoint the expectation of those minimal judges of evil, by whom he had been promoted to that degree of dignity. For he himself approached the mountain of God, and having entered the inaccessible cloud, and having been moved up by the steps of the celestial ladder, he received the law written by the finger of God, and ^B by the word of God he opened his mouth and drew in the Spirit, and from the good treasury of his heart he poured forth the word and words. And he arrived at the goal of this present life while guiding his religious Israelites, being unlike Moses in one, and only one, thing: in that entry into the Jerusalem that is above, whereas that other [entered] in some way into the one below—and the good and merciful God will not overlook our prayer—I do not know if he was deceived. And many who through the Spirit's echoes in him were saved and are still being saved today bear witness; the best witness is the new David of wise wisdom and salvation; and a witness was our own good John, the holy shepherd; from whom, being greatly besought on behalf of the flock, this new seer of the Sinai of the mountain, having descended to us with that same mindset, showed to us also those tablets of his written by God, containing on the outside practical [teachings], and on the inside, theoretical supports—speaking ^C of the period, so that the mockers became suppliants, saying that the fountain of perennial benefit had been blocked up and the salvation of all had been damaged. And the irreproachable one appeared, and again held to his former state. Then all, admiring his every accomplishment in all things, as if a newly manifested Moses, raised him by force to the leadership of his brothers, [putting] the lamp upon the lampstand of authority; the good examiners having kept [him] aloft, and they were not deceived; but he also approaches the mountain himself; and having gone under the inaccessible cloud, he receives that which is God-imprinted, being raised up by mental steps, to legislation and contemplation. By the Word of God he opens his mouth, and he drew in the Spirit, and he brought forth discourse, and words from the good treasury of the heart; and he completes the end of the observed life, in the guidance of the Israelite monks, having become unlike Moses in one, and only one [thing and only one], in the entry into Jerusalem, that above, as that one [did] into the one below, in some way—and [may] the all-good and merciful God not overlook our prayer—I do not know if he was deceived. And most people witness the echoes of the Spirit through him, through whom they were saved, and to this day are being saved; a best witness is David the new, of wise wisdom and salvation; ^D and a witness was our own good John, the holy shepherd; from whom, having been greatly besought for the flock, this new [man], a seer of the Sinai [ascent], having descended to us with [that] reasoning, himself displayed to us his God-written tablets, containing on the outside practical, and on the inside theoretical, supports asserting...

I have attempted to contain much in little; for brevity of expression is the beauty of a rhetorician.

Concerning the same Abbot John, superior of Mount Sinai, or Climacus.

^A Once, when Abbot Martyrius had come with P. John to the great Anastasius, Anastasius, observing John, said to Martyrius: "Tell me, Martyrius, whence is this boy? And who tonsured him?" Then Martyrius said: "He is your servant, Father, and I tonsured him." And Anastasius said: "O wonderful! Abbot Martyrius, who would say that you had tonsured the superior of Mount Sinai?" Nor was the prophecy of Anastasius in vain; for after forty years John was created our superior and abbot. Again at another time, the aforementioned Abbot Martyrius, his overseer, went with his John to that great man, John the Sabbaite, who was then living in the desert of Guddæ. When the old man, the Sabbaite, saw them, he rose up immediately, and with water washed the feet not of Martyrius, but of John Climacus, and even kissed his hand. But he did not wash the feet of Martyrius. When his disciple Stephen inquired of the Sabbaite why he had done so, he said to him: "Believe me, my son, I do not know who the boy is; but I have received the superior of Mount Sinai, and I have washed the feet of the superior." Moreover, Abbot Strategius, on the very day that Abbot John became a monk, when he was in his twentieth year, had foretold concerning him that he would become a great star. Indeed, as soon as he had been created superior of our monastery, six hundred guests arrived, and as they sat down to take food, he himself saw a certain [man] like a steward, dressed in the Hebrew manner in a linen garment, running about on every side and commanding with authority now the cooks, now the stewards, now the storekeepers and cellarers, and the other ministers of the monastery. Therefore, after the pilgrims had been dismissed, and the servants also had sat down to the table, that diligent steward, who had ^B run about everywhere and administered by giving orders, was sought for, that he too might sit down; but however diligently he was searched for, no one could be found any longer. Then the servant of God, our venerable father John, says to us: "Cease searching for him; for the lord Moses did nothing strange when he performed his ministry in his own place."

When the following [events] were found to be missing from the Life of Climacus, it pleased [me] to add them, so that it might be understood under what auspices he was initiated into the sacred office of superior. But there are other [things] not to be passed over in silence, which Daniel his biographer omitted.

There was a great drought in the parts of Palestine, and heavenly waters were vehemently desired. Therefore, being asked by the neighbors and local inhabitants, Climacus immediately ^C prayed, and a rich rain was brought down; and not ^D

beyond belief, for the Lord will do the will of them that fear Him, and He will hear their supplication. ^A

He adds further these details concerning his final years and death, which were also passed over by Daniel:

It must be known that Climacus had a brother by blood, this admirable abbot George, whom Climacus while still living appointed as his successor, that he might manage the monastery of Mount Sinai in his own place with the authority of abbot, because he himself was held by the love of the study of the desert and solitude, which he had taken to himself as a bride from the beginning. When, therefore, our new Moses, that most religious prelate, the abbot John, was dying and about to depart to the Lord, his own brother, the abbot George, as I have said, stood by and, weeping, said: "Lo, my lord, do you leave me and depart? I was praying that you might send me ahead, ^B for I am not able to shepherd the community without you, my master; or rather, I am sending you ahead." The abbot John said to him: "Do not grieve, nor be anxious; for if I find favor before the Lord, I will not let you finish a year after me." Which also happened; for within ten months, he too departed to the Lord.

These things are from a contemporary of Climacus from the same monastery. Truly, other most holy abbots of the same monastery are celebrated in various places, among whom is a certain George, though I know not if he is the same brother of Climacus about whom we just spoke (though I would believe him to be different), whom John Eviratus, or Moschus, praises in his Spiritual Meadow; and Orentus, whom the same author celebrates in chapter 126. Concerning Martyr, it has already been spoken above, although I do not recall reading anything remarkable about him.

THE LIFE OF THE SAME CLIMACUS FOLLOWS, FROM THE MENAIA OF MARCH.

^C This man, when he was sixteen years old, being of keen intellect, and having embraced the disciplines of all wisdom, consecrated himself to God as a most holy sacrifice, having ascended to Mount Sinai, and lived as a monk in obedience. Then, after nineteen years, he arose and came to the stadium of solitude, five miles from the church, and took possession of the holy monastery of the wrestling-ground (the place was called Tholas), and passing forty years in burning desire, inflamed by the fire of divine love. ^D He partook of food permitted by religious law from all things, but very sparingly and never to satiety, so that, I suppose, he might break the horn of pride. But who could express in words the fountain of his tears? He allowed himself only such sleep as would prevent vigil from damaging the substance of his mind. His way of life was constant prayer, and an indescribable longing for God. Having, therefore, practiced every virtue, and lived well, and having become full of the greatest insights, when his disciple was asleep in a certain place beneath a huge rock, and was about to be killed by it as it fell, he—being in his cell and knowing it by the divine Spirit—rescued him from such a death, appearing to him in his sleep

^A and waking him and calling him away from the place where the fragment of rock was already about to crush him as he slept and to shatter him into pieces and fragments. Having therefore reached this pinnacle of the virtues, and having served as the head of the holy mountain of Sinai, he left behind this transitory life and was translated to the eternal rest, having previously drafted the all-wise book of divine and spiritual ascents, which is also named the *Ladder*.

*From the Menologion (March 30).* Of our holy Father John, surnamed Climacus, a man distinguished in doctrine and monastic discipline.

*Roman Martyrology (March 30).* On Mount Sinai, the holy Abbot John Climacus. Baronius, among other things: Moreover, a certain divine image of his soul is seen much more clearly in his writings. He lived not long after the times of the Emperor Justinian, and after the holy Abbot Sabas, whose authority he sometimes confirms in what he writes.

THE SAME MAN'S LIFE, FROM TRITHEMIUS (a)

So says Trithemius, by whom many things have been written erroneously. First, because he says the name Climacus sounds like "Scholasticus" in Latin: for this is what published codices put forth. But I think it was written by Trithemius as "Scalasticus," from *climax* or ladder, although it is a base and barbaric term. Concerning the words *Climax* and *Scholasticus* and *Scalasticus*, we have already spoken abundantly above. It is also false that he lived in the year 346, under Constantine, Constans, and Constantius, since he wrote long after Justinian and the age of St. Sabas. This fact was correctly noted by both Baronius and Bellarmine, and I myself, before I read the one or the other had written, had noted and corrected Trithemius' error in my Notes to the *Shepherd*.

But concerning Gerson, besides those things which I explained in the Notes to the *Shepherd* (c), I have a little more to say. He censures St. Climacus in his epistle on the ornamentation of spiritual nuptials, when, among other things, he writes thus: *In such writings indeed we often find very many things that are false or poorly explained, and hence providing much matter for error to the simple, although in many respects they are divine and most lofty. Among such writings are mentioned certain narratives or rules or particular doctrines of certain ancient Fathers, which are said to be more to be marveled at than to be imitated. Just such is John who is called Climacus, who sets forth virtues of impassibility, and certain things very austere regarding penitence and sins.*

Here Gerson, who is mistaken first of all in stating that false things are found in Climacus: there is nothing false in the whole of Climacus, nor anything contrary to the decrees of the Church, nor poorly explained, but rather it is poorly understood, and subsequently poorly interpreted. He does not set forth "virtues of impassibility," but says that one must strive through the virtues to *apatheia*, or tranquility of soul, which Gerson calls impassibility; for he says that this tranquility or indolence of soul is the reward of obedience and humility. Climacus does not deny that the perfect feel the natural movements of anger, desire, fear, joy, love, hope, and others of this kind, but he says that the perfect religious has all these movements in his own power, so that they do not break out into action or wicked thought, just like a hunting dog. And this is not against divine dogmas, but is confirmed by them, when God said to Cain: *Under thee shall be his appetite, and thou shalt have dominion over him* (Gen. iv, 7).

As to the penances, most of them were voluntary; for these penitents of this sort begged the religious father that it might be permitted to them to go the way of penance, or if any were sent, they demanded from themselves even more severe punishments, and they prayed the superior that he would bind them in fetters, and not loosen or release them until they were dying, so that their corpses might be cast to wild beasts, and other things of this kind. In that same place, he criticizes Cassian, for whom Alardus Gazaeus responds. But regarding the severity of penance which Climacus describes, Gerson himself in another place (d) almost defends him when he says: *From this consideration of forensic and public justice is reasonably gathered the justification of the Carthusian religion, and indeed also of those more...*

severe.[...]* For why should not someone, conscious of his own sins and transgressions, which—if they were made public—would have deserved eternal death, or even temporal death, be able to endure, or willingly undertake, such a form of life, imposed upon him by the secret judge to whom he has made confession, even if he foresees much less that he will be able to live or to be worn down by infirmities? Let Joannes, the hermit of Mount Sinai, who is called Climacus, be read in that degree of his mystical ladder where he speaks of repentance. He reports truly stupendous things, and things perhaps more to be admired than imitated, concerning the voluntary imprisonment of certain men who wish to appease God for themselves. From ^B this careful observation, it is evident how reasonable the severity of life is for the Carthusian sinners, and indeed even for the just, insofar as they make satisfaction to God for their own or others' sins during this time of mercy, so that that purgatorial fire or Gehenna may not punish them more severely, beyond all comparison. But as to what he says—that these things are perhaps more to be admired than imitated; nay rather, why should they not be imitated? Since they prefer to make satisfaction to God here rather than to experience either the eternal punishments or the fires that purge for a time. Let Gerson hear what D. Bernard judges concerning the soul that has tasted God and, after that taste, offends Him, and what it does not attempt in order to return to grace with God. Such a soul, he says, I know not if it would judge experiencing Gehenna itself for a time more horrible or more painful than to go out, after having once tasted the sweetness of this spiritual pursuit, back again to the allurements or, rather, to the miseries of the flesh (etc., Serm. 35, super Cantica, p. 975, tit. m). However, the same Gerson praises Climacus when he compares the theologians of his own time with St. Augustine, Gregory, and Hugh: "All these things," he says (a), "Augustine, Gregory, and Hugh, and the other theologians sing everywhere, being very unlike us. And we languish, tighten, wither, and vanish amidst the battles of words and the smoke of fantasies that becloud more than they illuminate, and smoke more than they flame," as if to such persons Climacus might have said that theology is not appropriate except for those who mourn. But in truth Climacus never and nowhere said this, but the exact opposite, that theology, I say, is entirely inappropriate for those who mourn. The words of Climacus are in ^C the 7th degree, on salutary mourning: *οὐκ ἁρμόζει πενθοῦσι θεολογία* [theology is not fitting for those who mourn], and he gives the reason: *διαλύειν γὰρ αὐτῶν τὸ πένθος πέφυκεν* [for it is by nature inclined to dissolve their mourning], and what follows. It will not be fitting (that I may render it syllable by syllable) for those who mourn, for theology is accustomed to dissolve their mourning. Nor could Gerson have been misled by previous interpreters, for all three teach the contrary from Climacus. Climacus is everywhere orthodox, catholic, and holy; he contains nothing doubtful, false, or of a damnable nature, although he is sometimes not understood by Isseltius, who wrote the Notes, as I shall admonish the reader in its proper place. Raphael Volaterranus also celebrates the same Climacus, whose words you will read below in the Notes to the *Pastor*. Bellarmine, a Cardinal of blessed memory: "Joannes Climacus, a most religious monk, wrote a book of thirty degrees, in which," etc. Platus (b): "Climacus is also an ancient and grave author, and besides many other things in his whole book, he also includes that point, brief in words but containing much in substance (c), that a monastery is a kind of earthly heaven, and therefore with the same affection and reverence with which we believe the angels minister to God, we also ought to minister to our brothers." The same author praises him throughout his book for the goodness of the religious state, as does Rosignolius; and Dionysius the Carthusian proposed him to be read by the novices of his order (d). I will bring in the place from Luis de Granada below ^D at the fifth degree. Furthermore, in the Menaia there exist, for his canonical hours, odes and hymns and canticles in praise of our Climacus. I will submit one or two as an example: "Venerable and most wise Father Joannes, you truly, in every respect, were proffering in your throat the exaltations of God, being most expert in meditations and oracles suggested by God, and from thence you gathered for yourself great treasures of graces: blessed in effect, you overturned the impious counsels of the impious. Glorious Father Joannes, who cleansed your soul with springs of tears and propitiated God with all-night vigils, you were winged toward the love of Him, O blessed one, and to that beauty which you now worthily enjoy blissfully and without end together with your fellow combatants, O God-minded holy one." Many more praises and hymns of this kind follow in the same place, which it is sufficient to have indicated here.

CAPUT IV.

Concerning the various interpreters of Climacus, the scholiasts, the editions, and the reasons for a new interpretation and edition.

The first of all the interpreters of Climacus, as far as I know, was Angelus de Cingulo, of the order of St. Francis, founder of the Claren Fathers, who, around the year of Christ 1294, under the Emperor Adolphus, having gained the support of Pope Celestine V, strove to lead a stricter way of life on Mount Claro in the province of Ancona. Thus J. Gonzaga speaks of this in his *History of the Order*: "The leader of these Claren Fathers was a certain very learned father and brother, Angelus de Cingulo, which is a town of the Anconitan March, whose eloquence and doctrine in sacred sermons, and..."

knowledge of the Greek language in those times was marvelous. For he translated from Greek into Latin, in a polished and most elegant style, the most pious work of Joannes Climacus, the dialogue of Macarius, and a certain booklet by St. Joannes Chrysostom. This is according to Gonzaga. I have read elsewhere about this same Angelus de Cingulo, and noted in my Remarks on the *Pastor* of Climacus, that he received his knowledge of the Greek language divinely, just as Ephrem once did. But in fact, Ambrosius Camaldulensis denies that the Climacus was translated from Greek into Latin by Angelus de Cingulo in a polished and most elegant style. He denies that Clarenus translated this openly and clearly, but rather obscurely and intricately, by rendering word for word, from which it necessarily follows that the genius of the native language, or Latin, perishes: he denies that he was skilled in either language, and although he does not express the name of Angelus, he describes and depicts him so that the matter can be touched with one's eyes. Hear the words of Camaldulensis ^A to the venerable Father Matthaeus, his president: "You have urged, most beloved master and deservedly venerable father, that, looking to the needs of our brethren, I should translate by my own labor and study into Latin, with a new translation, that excellent work of the most blessed man Joannes (to whom I think the surname Climacus was given on account of his distinguished erudition), in which the norm of all monastic perfection is most correctly delivered. For you said that that former interpretation did not satisfy you much, and that it seemed most difficult to understand; and you conjectured the cause of that difficulty to be that he who translated it first, whoever he may have been (for I do not dare to define this rashly), had stuck too much to the letter, and, contrary to the precepts of the ancient learned men, had translated word for word; and you expected me to bring forth the sense of that man more openly and clearly. I have performed this task to the best of my ability, although I was not unaware that, beyond being laborious, it was also exposed to the bites of many (for there will not be wanting those who might accuse me of being a certain superfluous, and what sounds graver, arrogant and rash person, who, after that former interpreter—whom they will perhaps maintain more stubbornly than cautiously to have translated that work inspired by the Holy Spirit—dared to translate it anew)." The same Camaldulensis further adds: "Moreover, that they themselves will not deny that that translation is most obscure: what crime is it of mine, therefore, if I have endeavored to translate more clearly, and sometimes even more in the Latin idiom, what he translated more obscurely? ^B Furthermore, what point is there in saying how learned that interpreter was? Let those people contend that he was most expert in both languages; I, dissenting far from them, will truthfully assert that he was sufficiently skilled in neither: for that he did not correctly understand many Greek things will easily be evident to anyone even moderately skilled in that language: and that he who affirms that he was most unskilled in Latin has signified this not obscurely. That that man was a most holy man, let them assert; I shall gladly and willingly agree: yet it does not follow that, because he was holy, he was also learned and suitable for translating. For holiness is one thing, and erudition another. Nay, even if he were holy, he should not even have attempted what he could not fittingly fulfill, nor undergone a burden that exceeded the measure of his powers. For he does an injury to a most learned man, who renders him speaking ignorantly and rustically, but perhaps these things have been said more freely than was appropriate for my modesty: nevertheless, they were necessary, as I think, lest men think that I translated without cause." However, Camaldulensis lived in the year 1480, that is, two hundred and thirty-one years after Angelus de Cingulo. I have not seen the translation of Angelus de Cingulo published, but I think it is the one of which we have a manuscript copy in the Ebersberg seat.

A second was an interpreter of Climacus who himself was not of a high, spiritual mind, yet a pious writer, however humble and creeping his style. But he inserted certain interpretations indistinct from Climacus, which, to the great disadvantage of the literary matter, makes it so that Climacus cannot be brought forth as a witness, as there is a danger that you might seem to be praising words that are foreign rather than those of Climacus; and the Venetian printer Pincius says that these kinds of inserted annotations were taken from an ancient translation, and at the same time he excuses both the author and the interpreter. The same man recognizes three interpretations: the most ancient, that of Camaldulensis—whom, however, he does not express, just as he does not name the author of his own ruder interpretation. Let us hear Pincius, in his *Epistle to the Reader*: "Moreover," he says, "since there are three current translations of the present booklet, it was decided to accept this one, the lowest of all, and in the very fabric of the words the most humble, by which the sentiment might be more accessible even to the little ones and those inexperienced in eloquence. But the very slenderness of the words ought by no means to offend or deter anyone. For as the stomach is weak that admits only delicate food, so is the mind feeble that is fed more by the enticements of words than by the richness of the thoughts, and that most of all when it is a matter of the correct instruction of morals, where the senses themselves rather than the series of expressions are to be weighed. Therefore, to the wise ones of this world, and with that wisdom which is hostile to God, this booklet will not taste right, unless they labor to become fools in Christ; and then at last they will apprehend true wisdom. Sometimes, however, there are added to this translation, in the same context, a few annotations and elucidations taken from the ancient translation, by which all things become easier to grasp."

The third paraphrast or interpreter of Climacus is Ambrosius, who received the surname Camaldulensis from his sacred family, without doubt to be placed far before the previous ones, concerning whom Ant. Possevinus ^C (b) starts from Climacus: "Joannes Climacus, abbot on Mount Sinai, wrote sermons in Greek, by which as if by the steps of the thirty years of the life of Christ the Lord, anyone can learn the ascent to the perfection of life and to the Christian and monastic and religious way. Previously, however, it was in Latin, but not aptly, when Ambrosius Camaldulensis, a monk, translated it again from Greek into Latin, and Michael Isseltius illustrated it with notes: wherefore the version is to be admitted which appeared at Cologne by Arnoldus Mylius in the year 1583, and previously at Venice

INTRODUCTION TO THE LADDER OF PARADISE.

in the year 1569; though also earlier in the same place in 1531, by the brothers de Sabio. Moreover, it was actually published in Italian in the year 1585, at Venice by Petrus Marinellus. Furthermore, while each person peruses any degree or discourse ^A of John Climacus, let him remember that at the end of the work there exists a certain brief explanation of the more notable matters which are contained in each individual degree or discourse. Furthermore, attached to the book of John Climacus is both his life, written by Daniel the monk, and that of the anchorite Onuphrius, written by Paphnutius, otherwise known as Panuffius; which Onuphrius was, in the desert, a companion of John, abbot of Mount Sinai, whom they called the Scholasticus, and to whom John Climacus wrote his book. It exists in the *Bibliotheca SS. Patrum* of Margarinus. He lived, according to Eisengrein, in the year 340. It also exists at Rome in the Vatican Library, together with the commentaries of Elias of Crete [(a)]. As to what was noted regarding the year from Eisengrein, and from Eisengrein by Trithemius, we have already shown above that Climacus did not live in the year 340, but in 560.

We have also seen and read it published in Greek at Venice, but that Climacus is not the genuine one; it is a Greek paraphrase or interpretation in a barbaric and vulgar tongue, which even the unlearned and illiterate common people use today. For Greek elegance has degenerated into barbarism, not unlike how Latin has into Italian, and into that very Latin which today has crept into almost all disciplines.

Since, therefore, I knew that not a few wished to hear and read Climacus himself speaking in his own—that is, the elegant and ancient—language of the old Greek Fathers, and that this was greatly desired, because no interpreters seemed to have attained his meaning sufficiently at any time—indeed, that this has never yet been done—I began to work with truly great labor and effort in order to propose Climacus himself to the Christian world to be read, just as he himself wrote it. But since not many strive in the Olympic games, and few today go to Greece, I thought I should also look to the interests of those who are little versed in Greek, so that they might pluck some fruit from our efforts. I have added our new interpretation to the new edition, so that I might correct what has been errantly done by other interpreters here and there; this the reader who wishes to compare our work with the study of others will detect with no difficulty. And because he is a didactic writer, and prescribes rules of living for religious men, he strives everywhere to be brief, from which obscurity not rarely follows; he abounds in aposiopeses and reticences, often allowing the sentence to be completed by the reader’s own ingenuity; sometimes he also proposes riddles, and leaves the cognition and divination of them to the reader’s acuteness, so that the Greek commentator himself ^B often says: *Oimai auton touto legein* (I think the author says this), and thus he himself also makes conjectures about the mind of the writer.

And because I promised that I would also speak about the commentators, I have recognized three in the same place, of whom the first and most ancient is contemporary with Climacus himself, to whom Climacus also inscribed the little book *To the Pastor*, just as he dedicated the *Sacred Ladder* to his religious subjects, namely, John of Raithu. Now, he was a most holy prelate of the vast monastery at the twelve fountains and seventy palms in Egypt [(b)], at Elim, regarding whom there is more in the *Notes to the Pastor*: his commentaries exist in the fifth volume of the *Bibliotheca Patrum*, published at Paris in the year 1610; for they are not found in the earlier editions. If I had had a copy of the Greek exemplar, I would have translated these anew, because the old interpretation is not much to my liking.

The second is Elias, Metropolitan of Crete, a Greek man, who composed a huge volume of exegeses or explanations on the *Ladder* of Climacus, which almost equals in its bulk the commentaries of Eustathius on Homer: I received the only exemplar of this from the noble library of the renowned Republic of Augsburg, although it lacks both head and foot, consumed on all pages, so that in the whole book no paper is sound and whole; thus, through the viscera of the book, book-worms have ravaged and feasted. However, the codex is most ancient, and repaired with great care, and as much as possible reintegrated; it is written in an old Greek character by a learned hand (perhaps it was even the author’s own autograph). Furthermore, Elias of Crete, the prelate, lived around the year of Christ 787; he was at the Seventh Ecumenical Synod. And this commentary of Elias on Climacus has never been brought to light, neither in Greek nor in Latin. The only manuscript exemplar exists in the library of Bessarion, which the most serene senate of Venice possesses today, to which I have not yet been permitted to aspire. For as to what Antonius Possevinus mentions in his *Apparatus* from the Vatican, regarding the commentaries of Elias of Crete, I do not know ^C whether they are only commentaries (and in the catalog of the Vatican library they are written without a name), or if the author is attached; for the exegeses of Elias on Climacus are diverse, and the commentaries are culled from him and others by some anonymous and later person. Yet it must not be ignored that another Elias of Crete, a Hebrew, also existed with John of Jandun, a noble philosopher, who composed books on the Prime Mover, on the efficiency of the world, on Being and Essence and the One: annotations on the sayings of Averroes. But this man finally flourished in the age of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, who lived in the year 1494, as he himself testifies in Jandun, page 1644; and so he is entirely different from our Elias of Crete, the Metropolitan and exegete of Climacus; which I felt I must warn, so that the reader might not err.

The third is a Greek and anonymous commentator, whose only exemplar I obtained from the library of the most serene Duke of Bavaria, which was badly treated here and there by a careless bookbinder on the outer margins and edges that contain the commentaries, and often abraded by a cutting tool. Nevertheless, I have restored these very things, as much as I could, and have presented them for you in both Greek and Latin, together with Climacus, and they had never before been published or translated. Regarding these, I have this to warn the reader: first, that the commentator is not Elias of Crete, but even later than the Cretan, since the authors ^D

^A praised by the Scholiast are these: Sacred Letters. Anthony the Great. Aristotle the philosopher. Athanasius. Barsanuphius. Basil the Great. Chrysologus. Chrysostom. Chrysozomus. David Hieremias. Diadochus. Dorotheus. Ephrem the Syrian. Evagrius. Gabriel the solitary, in the Latro. Gregory Nazianzen, the theologian. Gregory of Nyssa. John Carpathius. John of Damascus. Isaac, presbyter. Isaias, abbot. Isidore of Pelusium. Maximus. Mark, the hermit. Nilus. Photius, patriarch. Syncletica. Thalassius. Theodoret. Theodore of Edessa.

The fourth is Michael Isselt of Amersfoort, a learned man, famous for other monuments of his intellect, who not long ago (1593) illustrated the edition of the Camaldolese with annotations; in which he often conjectures—even if at times quite erroneously—regarding the meaning of Climacus, as you will know from the passage when I am about to mention him more than once in my observations. ^B And these are the things I have learned concerning the interpreters and Scholiasts of Climacus. Now, regarding the Greek manuscripts which I have used in editing Climacus, the matter stands as follows. While I was living in Augsburg, I first happened upon the golden writings of Climacus, and having obtained three Greek manuscripts from the noble library of the illustrious Republic of Augsburg, I first of all published the book to the Shepherd in the year 1606, in Greek with my own translation and Notes. Then, at the instigation of others, I added as well the "Ladder" to be climbed and explained. For I received four manuscript copies from the library of the Most Serene Elector, Prince of Bavaria; of which the parchments are excellent and most corrected; I added one single, very small, and entirely faulty copy, which, as I said, has Scholia in the margins, copied by a corrupt and barely learned hand, so that the Greek scribe often had to be corrected by me. To these you may add two from Augsburg, from which I formerly edited the Shepherd, and a copy which Father Andreas Schott, a man of our own order, well learned in Greek and Latin, as his works show, sent from Antwerp, and that one itself was also corrected against another manuscript. The same man added a letter to the book, of which I append a copy here, because it is of interest to know this very thing: "Behold," he says, "I fulfill my promise at last, excellent father. I send through the booksellers, hastening to the fair, my own Greek copy of John Climacus collated with another one." ^C I recall this from memory: it was received from the lips of the Very Illustrious Anthony Augustine, Archbishop of Tarragona, when, by chance, Jerome Osorius, Bishop of Silves in Portugal, returning from Rome, had turned aside to visit him, in which year he departed to the heavens, having promised that he wished to add a colophon to so many and such great works written by himself with a new Latin translation of John Climacus, so greatly had that author proven himself to him. Aided, therefore, by these manuscript codices, I detected not a few errors and lapses of former translators, even those of the Camaldolese, so that I preferred to undertake the labor of translating Climacus from the beginning, rather than correcting the work of others, and at the same time, not to begrudge the reader—whether he be learned in both languages or only in one—the Climacus speaking in his own tongue as well as a foreign one. And because many things, here and there, in the author himself, and partly in the scholia and scholiasts, occur which are obscure and doubtful, I also applied a diligence of explanation, so that the reader might have an easy method of reading and understanding the work; and that he might treat the most noble and most ancient writer more willingly and usefully, and might not cease to revolve in his daily hands what he revolves in his nightly ones. In which I hope that I shall appear neither to have accomplished nothing, nor that posterity will have labored in vain in coming to know him.

Finally, I pray that no reader with a more delicate palate or more refined nose should demand of me in this metaphrasis that brilliance of Tully or Julian, mindful of what kind of writing it is—pious, I say, and religious—which rejects all pretense, paints, and allurements of words, and delights in its own religious language and simplicity, which is no less peculiar to religious writers than it is to theologians, philosophers, jurists, physicians, mathematicians, and grammarians. ^D For what is more absurd, and more tedious to religious ears, and less to be tolerated, than to use long circumlocutions of words and periphrases, and to call humility, for example—the most Christian and most religious virtue (which must be named and repeated almost a hundred times in a single chapter)—at one time "modesty of mind," at another "submission and resignation of mind"? Or to say: "to think modestly and submissively of oneself," and to use many such wordy ambiguities? The reason is the same for the terms of discretion, compunction, abnegation, renunciation, prayer, purity, confession, passions, tribulations. Although I have prudently abstained from excessively horrid and unnecessary monstrosities of words, in which the two older interpreters of Climacus abound, since many things could be expounded conveniently, pleasantly in Latin, and properly even without the sought-after artifice, so that Climacus might be understood much better than by such fictitious monstrosities of words, the use of which has even now almost become extinct.

Regarding the various Greek manuscript exemplars of Climacus which exist here and there in more noble libraries. Waters are drunk more sweetly from the fountainhead itself. And they are today and will be for future centuries, especially

in the religious houses of sacred and learned men, monasteries, and colleges, who may wish to approach the sources themselves and know the copies written by hand in Greek, which I thought ought to be taken into account in this matter also. And among those manuscripts which I read while I was first editing the *Pastor* of Climacus and now adorning the *Scala* [Ladder], there were four of the Bavarian library; three of the Republic of Augsburg—though I have not used all of the Augsburg ones at Munich; one from Antwerp, submitted by Andreas Schott, a man of our order, remarkably learned.

The first manuscript of the Bavarian library is number LXXXIV, marked with these words: *Works of John Climacus,* folio, paper. This manuscript is written in an elegant hand, yet not of the best quality. ^B Another is number LXXXVI, with this inscription: *The Ascetic Oration of Abbot John of Sinai, concerning the exercises of monks*, containing xxx discourses, which are called *Climaces* or "rungs": *a discourse such as the superior ought to be.* [Followed by] *The Life of Abbot John of Sinai, surnamed Scholasticus, briefly written, etc.*, folio, parchment. This manuscript is of excellent quality parchment and written in a most ancient hand, which I used extensively where there was a dispute concerning the variety of the text.

The third is the following number, LXXXVII, and it bears this false inscription: *The Ladder of John of Raithu, and other works, the Life of Climacus*, paper. This manuscript is acephalous, having the first two pages written about other matters that have nothing to do with the subject of the entire work; the third page contains the letter of the abbot of the monastery of Raithu, in which he urges Climacus to write the *Ladder*, from which letter the person who cataloged the books inscribed the whole book as "The Ladder of Raithu," although it is not of Raithu or Raithu, but of Climacus, as the entire work shows, and as the title on the external front of the book also signifies: Ἰωάννου Σιναΐτου. This same manuscript contains in the borders and margins throughout the book scholia, which were here and there erased through the carelessness of the bookbinder. The same manuscript belonged to Photius: for thus the Greek writing at the beginning of the book, where the letter of the abbot of Raithu to Climacus begins, says: Φωτίου τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ [of Photius the sinner].

The fourth is number CXIV, which among other things has only the discourse of John Scholastici addressed to the *Pastor*, along with scholia; it does not contain the *Ladder*: it is in smaller folio, or large quarto. The Antwerp manuscript, sent by Andreas Schott, was emended according to another manuscript copy, yet it is very faulty and by a quite recent hand.

From the library of the Republic of Augsburg, I used three manuscripts, when I was editing the little book of Climacus, πρὸς ποιμένα [to the Pastor], in Greek and Latin at Augsburg in the year 1606. The first is number LIII, with this inscription, which the index presents: *Climax or Ladder of John of Sinai. His book to the Pastor*, folio, parchment. Another, number LIV, the same, again on paper. The third, number LV, the same author again, with the exposition of Elias of Crete, but acephalous and tailless, and eaten by rot, folio, paper. I have used this last one again in Munich because of the exegeses of [Elias] the Cretan. It proceeded from a learned hand. Two letters are missing from the beginning, the life of Climacus, and a part from the first rung; the rest is intact up to the *Pastor*, to which the end is missing.

I have also received the *Greco-barbarous* [Modern Greek] *Climacus* from Augsburg, translated by Maximus Margunius, bishop of Cythera, and published at Venice in 1590; its inscription is this: *Τῶν ἐν ἁγίοις Πατρὸς ἡμῶν Ἰωάννου καθηγουμένου τῶν ἐν τῷ Σινᾷ ὄρει μοναχῶν, κλίμαξ τοῦ παραδείσου, ἢ λόγοι ἀσκητικοί, μὲ τοὺς ὁποίους διδάσκεται κάθε εἷς Χριστιανὸς πῶς χρεωστεῖ νὰ πολιτεύεται, διὰ νὰ ἀνέβῃ εἰς τὴν τελειότητα τῆς μοναχικῆς καὶ Χριστιανικῆς ζωῆς, νῦν πρῶτον εἰς ὠφέλειαν τοῦ Χριστωνύμου λαοῦ ἐκ τῆς Ἑλληνικῆς διαλέκτου εἰς κοινὴν φράσιν μεταγλωττισθέντες παρὰ Μαξίμου Μαργουνίου ταπεινοῦ ἐπισκόπου Κυθήρων.* ^C This is, as I translate it: *Of our Father among the saints, John, superior of the monks on Mount Sinai, the Ladder of Paradise, or discourses on religious discipline, by which a Christian is taught how he ought to live and ascend to the religious perfection of the Christian life, now for the first time translated into the common (or Greco-barbarous) tongue for the use and benefit of the Christian people from the Greek dialect by Maximus Margunius, bishop of Cythera.*

And I have used these manuscripts in my new translation, as well as in the scholia and observations. Furthermore, other Greek manuscript copies of Climacus exist here and there in other libraries. In the Vatican, letter I, according to Possevinus, p. xii, the book of John Scholasticus, afterward called Climacus in his own commentary, containing thirty chapters. His life in another book. A theoretical preface to his *Ladder* in another book. Again, other chapters of the same regarding the *Ladder* itself with scholia (Elias of Crete, as Possevinus teaches elsewhere (a) under the word *Climacus*), also his work on the nature of virtue. In the Sforza library at Rome, according to Possevinus, p. 23, number XCVIII, the works of Abbot John of the monks of Mount Sinai, folio, parchment. In the Vallicellana in Rome, *John Climacus*, Possevinus, p. 27. In the library of Bessarion at Venice, letter C, according to Possevinus, p. 35. *Climacus* with the exposition of Elias of Crete, folio, large paper. *Climacus* and Isaac, folio, small parchment. *Climacus* in quarto, paper. In the Medicean library at Florence, at S. Lorenzo, *John Scholastici* varia. ^D

(a) In his *Apparatus*; but I fear he is mistaken: for in the syllabus of the library, there is indeed mention of scholia, but not of Elias of Crete.

Letters of Saint John, Abbot of the Raithu Monastery, to Saint John the Admirable, Prefect of the others on Mount Sinai.

Viro excellentissimo cœlitumque æmulo, Patri Patrum præstantissimo doctori, Joannes peccatori Raithuni monasterii antistes in Domino Salutem.

Cum nobis qui inter postremos sumus incuriosa tua et indiscussa omnique genere virtutum ornata obedientia in Domino non ignota sit, præsertim cum pro data tibi e cœlo gratia seu talento fructus est colligendus, supplici te libello, et infimis omnino precibus adiimus, illud prophetæ dictum animo complexi: *Interroga patrem tuum, et annuntiabit tibi; seniores tuos, et dicent tibi*. Quapropter ^B tuam summam virtutem, imo apicem virtutum, et communem omnium parentem, optimumque præceptorem, tanquam in religiosæ vitæ palæstra diu præ cæteris Patribus exercitatum, atque ingenii acumine præpollentem supplices convenimus, ut nobis rudibus per litteras aperias quæ ad veteris exemplum Mosis in eodem monte divino [viso] spectaculo dignatus inspexisti, quasque divinæ legis tabulas ab eodem in tuo ad nos docendos (tanquam novos Israelitas, et modo ab actuali mundi Ægypto, vitæque tumultuosæ maris fluctibus egressos) libro destinato inscriptas accepisti. Ergo divina lingua tua tanquam virga usus [ope cœlesti] secundum Deum tam admiranda perpetrasti. Rogatus igitur, quæcunque ad religiosæ vitæ disciplinam et officium pro salute nostra strenue in Domino exsequendum ^C pertinent, tanquam certus eorum omnium qui cœ-

ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗ ΤΟΥ ΑΓΙΟΥ ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ ^A Τοῦ ἡγουμένου τῆς Ῥαϊθοῦ. Πρὸς Ἰωάννην ἀξιάγαστον τὸν Σιναίου ὄρους ἡγούμενον.

Τῷ ὑπερφυεστάτῳ καὶ ἰσαγγέλῳ Πατρὶ Πατρῶν καὶ διδασκάλῳ τῷ ὑπὲρ λίαν, ὁ ἁμαρτωλὸς τῆς Ῥαϊθοῦ ἡγούμενος ἐν Κυρίῳ χαίρειν.

Γινώσκοντες ἡμεῖς οἱ εὐτελεῖς τὴν ἐν Κυρίῳ ἀδιάκριτόν σου περὶ πάντων, ὡς καὶ ἐν πάσαις ἀρεταῖς κατακεκοσμημένην ὑπακοὴν, καὶ μάλιστα ὅπου δ' ἂν ἐπικερδῆσαι τῷ παρὰ Θεοῦ δοθέντι σοι ταλάντῳ δέοις, εὐτελεῖ ὡς ἀληθῶς, καὶ οἰκτρᾷ κεχρήμεθα συλλαβῇ τὸ εἰρημένον ἐν νῷ λαβόντες· *Ἐρώτησον γάρ*, φησί, *τὸν πατέρα σου, καὶ ἀναγγελεῖ σοι· τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους σου, καὶ ἐροῦσί σοι*. Τούτου ἕνεκεν ὡς κοινῷ πάντων πατρὶ πρεσβυτέρω τε παρὰ πάντας ^B ἔν τε τῇ ἀσκήσει καὶ τῇ ἀγχινοίᾳ, καὶ διδασκάλῳ ἀρίστῳ, διὰ τῶνδε ἡμῶν τῶν γραμμάτων, τὴν σὴν καθικετεύομεν τῶν ἀρετῶν κορωνίδα, τοῦ ἐπιστεῖλαι ἡμῖν τοῖς ἀμαθέσιν, ἅπερ ἐν τῇ θεοπτίᾳ κατὰ τὸν πάλαι Μωσέα ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ ὄρει τεθέασαι, καὶ οἱονεὶ πλάκας θεογράφους τῇ παρ' αὐτοῦ ἐπιστελλομένῃ πρὸς ἡμᾶς τιμίᾳ δέλτῳ ἐνθέμενον, εἰς διδασκαλίαν τοῦ νέου Ἰσραὴλ, ἀρτίως τῶν νοητῶν Αἰγυπτίων καὶ τῆς θαλάσσης τοῦ βίου ἐξεληλυθότων. Τοίνυν ὥσπερ ἀντὶ ῥάβδου τῇ θεοφήμονι σου γλώττῃ ἐν τῇ θαλάττῃ μετὰ Θεὸν (α) ἐθαυματούργησας, καὶ τὰ νῦν μὴ ἀπαξιώσῃς παρακαλούμενος εὐκρινῶς τὰ δέοντα τῇ μοναδικῇ πολιτείᾳ, καὶ πρέποντα ἀόκνως ἐν Κυρίῳ πρὸς σωτηρίαν ἡμῖν ἐγχαράξαι, ὡς μέγας καθηγητὴς ^C ἀληθῶς πάντων τῶν ἑλομένων τὴν τοιάνδε ἀγγελικὴν πολιτείαν, μὴ λογιζόμενος θωπείαν εἶναί τινα ἢ κο

κο^Aλακείαν, τὰ παρ' ἡμῶν εἰρημένα. Ἐπίστασαι γάρ, ὦ ἱερὰ ὄντως κορυφή, ὅτι ἀλλότρια καὶ λεγόμενον παρὰ πάντων. Διὸ πεποίθαμεν ἐν Κυρίῳ δέξασθαι ταχέως καὶ περιπτύξασθαι τὰ παρ' ἡμῶν ἐλπιζόμενα τίμια ταῖς πλαξὶν ἐγχαράγματα καθοδηγοῦντα ἀληθῶς τοὺς ἐπομένους ἁπλανῶς, καὶ καθάπερ κλίμαξ ἐστηριγμένη μέχρι τῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ πυλῶν ἀναβιβάζουσα τοὺς προαιρομένους, ἀβλαβῶς καὶ ἀσινεῖς διαβαίνοντας καὶ ἀκωλύτως τὰ πνευματικὰ τῆς πονηρίας, καὶ τοὺς κοσμοκράτορας τοῦ σκότους, καὶ τοὺς ἄρχοντας τοῦ ἀέρος. Εἰ γὰρ Ἰακὼβ προβάτων ποιμὴν ὢν τὴν τοιαύτην φοβερὰν ὀπτασίαν ἐν τῇ κλίμακι τεθέαται, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ὁ λογικῶν θρεμμάτων προϊστάμενος, οὐκ ὀπτασίαν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἔργῳ, καὶ ἀληθείᾳ ἀπλανῆ ἄνοδον πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν πᾶσιν ὑποδείξειεν; Ἔρρωσο ἐν Κυρίῳ, τιμιώτατε Πάτερ.

ΙΩΑΝΝΗΣ ΙΩΑΝΝΗ ΧΑΙΡΕΙΝ. Respondit Climacus Joanni Raithuni cœnobii antistiti.

Ὑπεδεξάμην ὡς πρέπουσαν τῷ σεμνῷ σου καὶ ἀπαθεῖ ^B βίῳ καὶ τῇ καθαρᾷ καὶ τεταπεινωμένῃ σου καρδίᾳ, ἣνπερ πρὸς ἡμᾶς τοὺς πτωχοὺς καὶ πένητας τῶν ἀρετῶν ἀπέσταλκες τιμίαν σου συλλαβήν, μᾶλλον δὲ ἐπιταγὴν, καὶ ὑπὲρ τὴν ἡμετέραν ἰσχὺν κέλευσεν. Σὸν γὰρ ἦν ὄντως, σὸν, καὶ τῆς σῆς ἱερᾶς ψυχῆς ἴδιον, τὸ παρ' ἡμῶν τῶν ἀπαιδεύτων, καὶ λόγῳ καὶ ἔργῳ ἀμαθῶν, διδασκαλίας, καὶ νουθεσίας λόγον αἰτήσασθαι. Σεσυνήθικε γὰρ ἀεὶ ἡμῖν δι' ἑαυτῆς τύπον ταπεινοφροσύνης ὑποδεικνύειν. Πλὴν νῦν κἀγὼ ἐκεῖνο ἐρῶ, ὡς, εἰ μὴ φόβος, καὶ πολὺς ὁ κίνδυνος, τῆς μητρὸς πασῶν τῶν ἀρετῶν ὑπακοῆς τῆς ὁσίας τὸν ζυγὸν ἐξ ἑαυτῶν ἀπορρίψασθαι, ἐπῆρτο, οὐκ ἂν ἀλόγως ἐν τοῖς ὑπὲρ δύναμιν κατετολμήσαμεν. Ἔδει γάρ σε, ὦ θαυμάσιε Πάτερ, ἔδει ταῦτα πειθόμενον [πυθόμενον] παρὰ τῶν εὖ εἰδότων μαθεῖν· ἡμεῖς γὰρ ἐν τῇ τῶν μαθητευομένων τάξει καθεστήκαμεν. Ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ τοῦτο οἱ καθ' ἡμᾶς θεοφόροι, καὶ τῆς ὄντως γνώσεως μύσται ὑπακοὴν ὁρίζονται ἐν τοῖς ὑπὲρ δύναμιν ^C ἀδιστάκτως τοῖς προστάττουσι πείθεσθαι, ἰδοὺ τὰ καθ' ἑαυτοὺς περιιδόντες εὐσεβῶς ἐν τοῖς ὑπὲρ ἑαυτοὺς ταπεινῶς τὴν ἐγχείρησιν πεποιήκαμεν· οὐχ ὡς τί σοι χρησιμεῦσον, ἢ δηλοῦν ἐκεῖνο, ὅπερ καὶ σὺ οἶσθα οὐχ ἧττον ἡμῶν, ὦ ἱερὰ κορυφή.

SCHOLIA.

(α) Ἀπάθειά ἐστιν ἡ ἀκινησία ψυχῆς, πρὸς κακίαν. Ἄλλο. Ἴδιον ἀπαθείας διάκρισις ἀληθινή. (β) Πτωχὸς μὲν ἐστιν ὁ ἀπὸ πλούτου κατελθὼν εἰς ἔνδειαν, πένης δὲ ὁ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐν ἐνδείᾳ ὤν. Ὁ δὲ Δαυῒδ πτωχὸς εἶναι ὁμολογεῖ, τάχα μὲν εἰς πρόσωπον τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ τοῦτο λέγων πτωχοῦ ὀνομαζομένου, κατὰ τὸ, «Ὃς δι' ἡμᾶς ἐπτώχευσε πλούσιος ὤν,» πένητος δὲ, καθ' ὃ οὐ πλούσίου τινὸς, ἀλλὰ τέκτονος ἑνὸς κατὰ σάρκα ἐχρημάτισεν. (c) Tam humilem fuisse Joannem hunc abbatem dicit, ut, cum propria ipsius fuerit, quamvis melioris et doctioris, ab aliis tamen vivendi præcepta petere, cum ipse exemplo vitæ omnes doceret. (d) Cum hac Climaci mente pugnat interpretatio Camaldulensis, sed hæc germana est.

^A (For I am persuaded, not I alone, but I think also that each of those who are right-minded, that the eye of your mind is pure from all earthly and darkish infusion of shadows, and that you advance towards the divine light without hindrance, and are illumined by it); but standing in fear of the death which comes from disobedience, and as if being pushed by it towards obedience, I have come to your all-holy command with fear and desire, as a grateful submissive servant and an unprofitable child of a most excellent artist, attempting only, with our mere and fading knowledge and with a stammering style, to sketch out in ink alone the living and animated words. It will remain for you, therefore, as the Exarch and commander of teachers, to adorn and illuminate what is imperfect, and to fulfill what is lacking, that the spiritual tables and law may be fulfilled. And I have not sent this attempt of ours to you to teach you (far be it! for this would be a proof of the utmost folly; for you are sufficient in the Lord, not only to instruct others, but even us ourselves in the divine habits and doctrines), but to the God-called company of disciples which is being trained with us by you, O best of the best of teachers, for whose sake and yours, being relieved of ignorance as if by some intellectual hopes, having stretched the sail of the reed, and having placed the rudder of our speech in the hands of your good co-pilot, I go forth with all entreaty to them ^B through you, asking those who happen upon it, if anyone sees anything profitable in this, to ascribe the fruit of this to our excellent superior as a grateful person. And may he seek from God the recompense for the act, and for it alone having been given; not looking intently at what is said (for it is truly lowly and full of all ignorance), but accepting the Lordly intention of him who offers it; for God rewards the wages not by the multitude of gifts and labors, but by the multitude of intention.

PROLOGUE

PRECISE INDEX OF THE BOOK

1. On the renunciation of the vain life and on withdrawal. 2. On freedom from passions, or on grief. 3. On pilgrimage, and also on the dreams of the young. 4. On the martyrdom of courageous obedience. 5. On diligent repentance, and also on the God-pleasing custody of those in prison. 6. On the remembrance of death. 7. On cleansing mourning. 8. On mild freedom from anger. 9. On malice. 10. On detraction. 11. On silence. 12. On lying. 13. On listlessness, which they call acedia. 14. On gluttony. 15. On lust, and also on chastity. 16. On avarice. 17. On poverty. 18. On insensibility. 19. On the psalmody of those in common life. 20. On the difference of vigils. 21. On cowardice. 22. On vainglory. 23. On pride, and also on the impure thoughts of blasphemy. 24. On simplicity, and meekness, and innocence, and malice. 25. On humility. 26. On discernment, in which you will find riches. 27. On stillness and withdrawal; in which [there is] on the guarding of the mind, and on various ways of stillness. 28. On prayer without form, and on patience. 29. On freedom from passions. 30. On love, and also on hope, and faith, and illumination, and somewhat on the knowledge of divine things.

^B Climacus truly considered most excellently that, having fashioned for us an ascent equal in number to the age of the Lord in the flesh—for he constructed a ladder of thirty rungs symbolically representing his thirty years of perfection—if we have attained the time of the Lord, we shall be found observant of the law and unfallen. But he who has not yet reached this [age] is still an infant, and will not be found acceptable in any testimony of the heart. We, therefore, have deemed it necessary to place the life of this all-wise man here, so that seeing his labors, we may not be faithless toward his deeds. ^C Climacus has weighed this matter very well, since he constructed for us a heavenly ladder which, according to the measure of the age of Christ when He was baptized at thirty years, contains thirty degrees. If, having grasped this, we are found to be truly just and innocent, having comprehended the age of the Lord, then he who has not yet aspired to this is still an infant, and in the estimation of all will be found imperfect. We, however, shall appear to have done something worthy of labor if we prefix to the book the life and deeds of this most wise man, so that by contemplating his labors and deeds we may not deny credence to his actions. ^D

OF OUR FATHER AMONG THE SAINTS JOHN CLIMAX

S. P. N. JOANNIS CLIMACI · SCALA PARADISI

PROLOGUE

STEP ONE

On the renunciation of the worldly life.

^A Of all beings, both mortal and immortal, whom our King and God—for it is right that we who are about to write to the servants of God should begin with God who is the Highest Good—has created and endowed with the gift of free will, some are His friends, others are His sincere and genuine servants; some are useless slaves, others are entirely estranged from God, and others again, though powerless, are enemies of God.

By friends of God, holy man, we in our ignorance consider to be those truly blessed minds and natures, free from all corporeality, who always stand around God. By genuine servants, we mean all those who perform His will without hesitation and without fail, and who have already done so. Useless slaves are those who, though they have been deemed worthy of the honor of baptism, nevertheless violate their covenants with God and have not observed His commandments. We consider as strangers and aliens to Him those who either do not believe or who believe and think wrongly concerning God. Finally, enemies and rebels against God are those who not only disobey the Lord’s commands and reject them for themselves, but also fiercely oppose and persecute those who do obey and worship God.

Since each of these categories would require its own individual book, and since it is not for a man of my ignorance and lack of learning to discourse more copiously on these matters at present, come now—come, let us in obedience to the command of those who piously constrain us and urge us in good faith, being as they are the genuine servants of God, extend our unworthy hand through unhesitating obedience; and having received the pen of discourse from their wisdom, let us dip it into the ^C somber yet radiant humility, and upon their smooth and white hearts—as if upon paper—

or rather, upon their mystical tablets, let us inscribe the heavenly precepts of life, or rather the seeds, and from here let us take the beginning of our discourse.

Scala Paradisi. — Step I.

^A God is the life of all who possess free will, the salvation of all, whether believers or unbelievers, just or unjust, pious or impious, dispassionate or passionate, monks or seculars, wise or simple, healthy or infirm, young or aged. It is like the pouring out of light, the sight of the sun, and the changing of the air, and there is no variation, "For there is no respect of persons with God" (Rom. ii, 11). ^B An impious man is a rational, mortal nature that willfully flees from life and considers its own Creator, who always is, as non-existent. A lawless man is one who possesses the law from God with his own malignity, and, together with a contrary heresy, thinks he serves God. A Christian is one who, as far as is possible for a human, imitates Christ in words, deeds, and thoughts, believing rightly and blamelessly in the Holy Trinity. A friend of God is one who lives in the enjoyment of all natural and sinless things, and does not neglect the good things ^C he can do. A continent man is one who, in the midst of temptations, snares, and disturbances, remains free and strives with all his power to imitate the ways of those who are free. A monk is a rank and state of incorporeal beings, accomplished in a material and filthy body. A monk is one who considers only the divine rules and words at every time, in every place, and in every matter. A monk is a perpetual violence to nature, and an unceasing guardianship of the senses. A monk is a sanctified body, a purified mouth, and an illuminated mind. ^D A monk is a sorrowful soul, incessantly occupied in the memory of death, and both sleeping and waking is ever watchful. Relinquishment of the world is a voluntary hatred of praised matter, and (7) a denial of nature for the sake of obtaining things that are above nature (8). All who have eagerly left behind the things of this life have done so either for the sake of the future kingdom, or for the multitude of their sins, or for the love of God. But if none of these aforementioned goals preceded them, their withdrawal proved to be irrational. Nevertheless, our good Steward of the contest awaits the end of the journey, whatever it may be. Let him who has gone out from the world in order to scatter the burden of his sins imitate those who sit outside the city before their burials. And let him not cease from the warm and burning drops and silent sobs of his heart, until he too sees Jesus having come and having rolled away the stone of burning passion from his heart; and until he has loosened our mind, like Lazarus, from the bonds of sins, and commanded the ministering angels, "Loose him from the passions, and let him go to the blessed dispassion." But if it is not so, there is no benefit. As many of us as wish to depart from Egypt and Pharaoh, we also certainly need a Moses

^A who stands between us, a mediator of action and contemplation, who stretches out his hands to God, so that those who are being led may cross the sea of sins and defeat the Amalek of the passions. They are deceived, therefore, who surrender themselves and think they have no need of a guide. Those who escaped from Egypt had an angel as their leader. And some are like those who are healed of the diseases of the soul through the care of physicians—these are the ones exiting from Egypt. But others desire to strip away the filth of the wretched body; therefore, they need an angel, or at least a peer of angels, if I may so speak, to assist them. For we truly need a skilled artisan and physician for the corruption of our wounds ^B. Those of us who attempt to ascend to heaven with the body require, in truth, force and ceaseless pains, especially at the very beginning of the renunciation, until our pleasure-loving character and unfeeling heart are established in the love of God and purity through clear mourning. For it is truly a toil, a painful, intense, and invisible bitterness, especially for those who are disposed toward negligence, until we make the soul—that dog that loves the butcher shops and is obsessed with odors and accustomed to barking—a lover of purity, a lover of contemplation, and a lover of God, through simplicity, profound meekness, and diligence. Nevertheless, let us, though passionate and weak, trust in our own ^C infirmity and mental weakness through unwavering faith, and by offering our own right hand to Christ and confessing, we shall certainly receive His help, even beyond our own worthiness, provided that we keep ourselves perpetually plunged in the depths of humility. Let all who approach this good, hard, and narrow struggle know that they have come to jump into fire, if indeed they expect a divine fire to dwell within them. Let every man examine himself, and only then eat of that bread of hers which is with bitter herbs, and drink from her cup which is with tears, lest he wage war unto his own judgment. If not every baptized person ^D is saved—I shall be silent about the rest—those who approach must renounce all, despise all, laugh at all, and shake off all, in order to lay a good foundation. A good threefold and three-pillared foundation is innocence, fasting, and temperance. Let all who are infants in Christ begin with these, taking as a proof the sensible infants. With them, nothing terrible occurs, nothing deceitful will ever be found; there is no insatiable greed, no gluttonous belly, no burning body. For perhaps, with the growth of nourishment, they progress and attain to the burning. It is truly hateful and dangerous for the one wrestling to be weakened at the very entrance of the struggle, for he gives everyone proof of his own slaughter. Let there be for us, by all means, some benefit even from the rigid beginning and the subsequent softening that follows it. For the soul that has behaved manfully, if it has slacked off, is pricked by the memory of its former zeal as if by a goad. Therefore

^A when the soul loses that blessed and desired warmth, let it search diligently to see from what cause it has been deprived of it, and let it take up all its desire and zeal against that cause. For there is no other gate by which it may return, except the one through which it went out. He who performs his submission out of fear is perhaps like incense ^B that begins with a sweet fragrance, but in the end terminates in smoke. He who acts for the sake of a reward resembles a millstone, which is always moved in the same way. But he who undertakes the monastic life out of divine love receives the fire in its very beginnings; and if it is cast into fuel, it may kindle a stronger flame before one’s eyes. There are some who build bricks upon stones; and there are others who have established pillars upon the earth; and there are others who have walked a little, and having warmed their sinews and joints, run more swiftly; let him who has understanding, understand these symbolic words. As those called by God and the King, let us run eagerly, lest we be found fruitless in the day of death, being short-lived, and perish from hunger. Let us please the Lord as soldiers please a king. For after the campaign, we are then required to give an account of our precise service. Let us fear the Lord as we fear wild beasts. For I have seen men going to commit robbery, and although they did not fear God, upon hearing the sound of dogs in that place, they immediately turned back. And what the fear of God did not accomplish, the fear of wild beasts achieved. Let us love the Lord as we are accustomed to honor our friends. For I have often seen some who have grieved God and have had no concern for it; yet I have seen those same people, who have offended their own beloved friends in some trivial matter, use every device, every thought, every look, and every confession—by themselves, through friends, and through gifts—so that they might return to their former love. In these very beginnings of renunciation, we perform the virtues with toil and bitterness; but having advanced, we are henceforth disposed to them without pain, or with but little sorrow. And when our mortal mind is swallowed up and mastered by zeal, we perform them henceforth with all joy, ^C and zeal, and desire, and divine fire. Insofar as those are praised who from the outset perform the commandments with all joy and zeal; to that same extent, those are to be pitied who, having spent time in the discipline, still perform them with toil and difficulty. Do not let us loathe or judge those who have had accidental renunciation. For I saw some who were fleeing, yet were coming to the King against their will, and were meeting Him as they approached, and thus, though against their will, were brought to see Him and entered into the palace itself and dined with Him. I have seen seed fall into the ground against one's will, and yet produce much and flourishing fruit; and just the same in the opposite case. I have seen someone in a surgery who had come for some other necessity, and having been seized by the doctor’s skill, was constrained, and had the cautery applied to the light upon ^D

his eyes, casting away the fog, and what was involuntary became ^A more steadfast and more authoritative among some of the voluntary. Let no one, using the weight and multitude of their sins as a pretext, call themselves unworthy of the monastic profession; and let no one think, because of self-indulgence, that he should consider himself worthless, using pretexts in sins. For where there is much corruption, there is need also of great medical treatment, so that the filth may be cast away. For the healthy do not come to a surgery (20). If, when an earthly king has called us, and wishes us to serve in his presence, we do not delay, nor make excuses, but leaving everything we hasten eagerly to him, let us take heed to ourselves, lest when the King of kings, and Lord of lords, and God of gods calls us to this heavenly rank, we decline through sloth and negligence, and be found ^B inexcusable at the great judgment seat. For it is possible, even for one bound by the affairs of life and chained by iron cares, to walk forward, though it is difficult. Since even those who are shackled with iron on their feet often walk, but they stumble constantly, and receive wounds from this. For the unmarried person who is bound in the world only by things, is like one who has his hands in shackles (who is not prevented when he wishes to run toward the solitary life); but the married, is like one who is bound in both hands and feet by chains.

(21) I have heard some living carelessly in the world, saying to me: How can we, who are subject to a spouse and bound by public concerns, attain to the solitary life? To whom we replied:

(22) Whatever good things are in your power to do, do not neglect to perform and act upon; abstain from lying; do not despise anyone in your heart out of pride; do not steal from anyone; do not deceive anyone; let no one be exalted over you; do not hate anyone; do not separate yourselves from the assemblies; be compassionate to the needy; do not cause anyone to stumble; do not draw near to another’s portion; and be content with the wages of your own wives. If you do these things, not far

^A from the kingdom of heaven you shall be. Let us run with joy and fear into the noble contest, not fearing our enemies, since they look into the face of our soul, even if they are not seen. If they see that it has become estranged through cowardice, then they arm themselves most bitterly against us, for the deceitful ones perceive that we have become afraid. Let us therefore arm ourselves against them with courage; for no one fights willingly against one who fights with spirit. The Lord wisely lightened the conflicts for those newly enlisted, so that from the very beginning they would not immediately return to the world. Therefore, rejoice in the Lord always, all you servants of God; recognize this as the first sign in yourselves of the Master’s love for us, and that He Himself has called you.

^B And God is often known for doing this, for when He sees brave souls, He immediately allows conflicts to begin for them from the start, wishing to crown them quickly. The Lord hid from those in the world the difficulty—or rather, the ease—of the stadium; for if they had known this, all flesh would not have renounced the world. Give the labors of your youth willingly to Christ, and you will rejoice in old age in the wealth of goodness; for things gathered in youth nourish and console those who have become exhausted in old age. Let us labor while young with fervor; let us run while sober; for death is uncertain. Truly, we have wicked and harsh enemies, treacherous, cunning, holding fire in their hands, and desiring to burn the temple of God through the flame that is in it; potent, sleepless, incorporeal, invisible ^C enemies. Let no young person, while he is young, receive his enemy the demons, who say: "Do not wear out your flesh, lest you fall into diseases and infirmities." For scarcely in this present generation will one be found who chooses to mortify it, even if he should deprive himself of many tasty foods. The purpose of this demon is to make our entry into the stadium slack and sluggish, and thus to make the end correspond to the beginning.

Before all this, those who wish to serve Christ sincerely must seek and act so that they may choose for themselves through spiritual ^D Fathers, and through their own discernment, the places, the customs, the dwellings, and the exercises appropriate for them. For the coenobia are not for everyone, because of the vice of gluttony; nor are the hermitages for everyone, because of a fiery temper. Each one must examine in what state he is. The entire monastic life is contained in three most general categories of settlement: that of athletic withdrawal, living in solitude; or living in stillness ^B with one or at most two others; or sitting patiently in a coenobium. "Do not turn," says Ecclesiastes, "to the right hand, or to the left," but walk in the royal road; for the middle way of those aforementioned has become appropriate for many. As for the man who is alone, "Woe," he says, "for if he falls into acedia, or sleep, or despondency, or despair, there is no one to raise him up."

Where, however, two or three have been gathered in my name, there am I in their midst, says the Lord. Who, do you suppose, is the faithful and prudent monk, who from the very beginning of his entry into the religious life has kept the fervor of his spirit unextinguished? Who, right up to the goal and exit of his life, has busied himself with increasing fire with fire, warmth with warmth, zeal with zeal, and desire with desire, without ceasing? Whoever you are who have ascended this step, do not look behind you. ^B

ANONYMOUS GREEK SCHOLIA

On the Ladder of Paradise of St. Climacus, never before published, excerpted chiefly from Elias of Crete, archbishop, and other Greek Fathers and writers. With a Latin interpretation by Matthaeus Rader, of the Society of Jesus.

^C

SCHOLIA ON STEP I. On the renunciation of worldly life. Scholion 1.

Scholion of Gregory of Nyssa. 2.

^D

Another.

^A

Scholion 3. He called humility both sad and brilliant: sad, on account of the patience and endurance of afflictions which the humble sustain and daily experience; brilliant, again, because of the glory and exaltation which it procures for those who have mastered it. It is sad, indeed, to the slothful and to those who are unwilling to endure anything whatsoever for the sake of God; but it is brilliant to the steadfast and brave, who endure all things for God's sake and know how great is its benefit. ^B

Scholion 4. The name God (Deus) is said to be derived either from *theein* (to run) and to care for all things; or from *aithein*, which is to burn. For God is a fire consuming all wickedness; or from the verb *theasthai*, which is to see or look upon all things. For nothing escapes God, who looks upon all things; for He saw all things before their creation.

Scholion 5. Impious is he who has undertaken a profession and abandons it. Also, he is impious who does not even approach it because of stupidity, as it is written: “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God,’” in that he prefers the works of the uncreated to their Creator. ^C

Scholion 6. He called violence the exhaustion of the body, which the disciples of Christ voluntarily sustain in the renunciation of their own wills and of bodily rest, for the sake of observing the commandments of Christ.

Scholion 7. Since there are habits in the rational faculty of nature—in the irascible, indeed, anger; in the appetitive, sadness—he who has overcome these has denied and renounced nature.

Scholion 8. He divides the discourse on repentance into three kinds, and if the penitent does not seize upon one of them, his entire repentance is as nothing. The best of the three is the last, that is, the third way of repenting. For this is persistent and brings much reward to those who have acquired it, whether it be for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, or for the multitude of sins, or for love toward God. ^D

Scholion 9. He speaks of continuous mourning, for as that holy father said, mourning works—and guards—the works. For behold, he says, this very mourning procures for the mourner the blessed tranquility of the soul.

Scholion of Abbot Isaiah 10. Let us contend, therefore, brethren, against sloth, and let us rend from ourselves the veil of darkness, which is— Ps. LII, 1.

^A which is oblivion, and let us behold the light of repentance. Let us procure for ourselves Martha and Mary, which are the endurance of evils and mourning; these weep before the Savior so that He may raise Lazarus, that is, the mind which is bound by the many wrappings of its own wills.

*Scholion 11.* Egypt is the intellectual obscuration of the perturbations of the soul, or the passions, into which no one descends unless compelled by hunger.

*Another.* Do not neglect action, because by idleness knowledge is diminished, and, compelled by hunger, you descend into Egypt. The Fathers interpret Egypt as the will of the flesh, which draws us toward the idleness and rest of the body and renders our mind more effeminate.

*Scholion 12.* He mentions violence in many places, as when he says: "A monk is a continuous violence of nature." He wishes, therefore, to say that since custom is fixed by habit and—as is commonly said—is moved and changed into nature, it is a violence to alter inveterate habits and to transfer them into a different way of living; hence Christ says: "The kingdom of heaven suffers violence" ^B.

*Scholion 13.* You must know that one who has renounced the world, unless he perseveres in a cenobium, should certainly for a long time live under the mastership of another outside the cenobium, until he is instructed and learns to discern the variety of thoughts and spirits. For this is obscurely signified by the leading of Moses and the angel in the case of both the Israelites and Lot. Just as another Father says: If it is difficult in any other art to make progress without a master and to perform anything correctly, how much more will there be a need for a guide in this art, which is the most difficult of all arts?

*Scholion 14.* It is hard and rough on account of the strict custody of the senses; it is narrow and arduous on account of the vexation and castigation of the body, and also on account of the bitter amendment of inveterate customs; but it is light and easy on account of trust in God, or for the sake of perfection to be achieved in the future, or the hope of future goods.

*Scholion 15.* Not everyone who has been purified by the holy font of baptism is saved for that reason, but he who does the works of God. Therefore, certainly, neither is everyone who is tonsured a monk, but he who performs the office of a monk. ^D

*Another.* For Moses also baptized in the cloud and in the sea; John also baptized that they might believe in the One who was to come; Jesus also baptizes, but in the

Holy Spirit and for the remission of sins. This is salutary. But if some return to their own vomit, and fall away from salvation, it must be said that this also is permitted for a reason.

^A Scholion 16. He who has renounced the world for the sake of a reward always applies himself to his labor to the best of his ability, reasoning that if he slackens even a little, it will come to pass that his reward is diminished.

Scholion 17. I think he refers to those who have renounced the world. And those who build bricks upon stones are they who, without the foundation of submission to the great virtues, have set about a work of great virtues at the very beginning of their religious life. And because they are inexperienced in the humble contests which are carried out under obedience, they have been overcome, and have exchanged their building for something lowlier and weaker. But those who set pillars upon the earth are like those who have immediately from the beginning of the religious life ^B betaken themselves to the solitary life, and because they lacked foundations, they have been undermined and collapsed. Those, however, who travel on foot, and who have gradually ascended by the straightforward and simple course of obedience, have become invincible, as those who have acquired much use and experience of wars.

Scholion 18. Climacus speaks of renunciations that are not absolute, but which happen as the result of some chance occurrence and the sudden arrival of calamities. Fugitives are called those who are driven from their fatherland on account of some offense. When, therefore, one of them was living in the countryside, it happened that the king passed by there, and it was indicated to him that this man was stirring up wicked designs against him; the king then ordered ^C that he be brought by force. But when, after having held an inquiry, he understood that the man had sinned in nothing against him, he recalled him from exile and received him with every sort of kindness, so that he even deigned [to let him eat at] his own table. This parable and likeness shows us the blessed Paul, and many others who at first met Christ against their will, but finally entered the heavenly kingdom with Him, and reigned with Him in heaven.

Scholion 19. Where the weight of burdens, that is, of sins, is too great, there is need of outside help; and where there is much filth of the soul, there is need of many tears.

Scholion 20. The sweet fragrance of the divine will is the health of the soul; but conversely, to fall away from the good will [of God] ^D is a pestilence of the soul verging toward death.

Scholion 21. Whoever admits the word of truth receives God, as the Lord says: "He who receives you, receives me" (Matt. x, 40).

Scholion 22

Scholion 23

Scholion 24

Scholion 25

Scholion 26

Scholion 27

Scholion 28

Augustan Codex

Another Scholion

^A Another. What you think you have done well, do not consider good, unless it is confirmed by the testimony of pious men.

Scholion 29. It is easy to throw away goods, but difficult to acquire them; for vice has two satellites, with which it gravely attacks virtue from both sides: attacking here by excess, there by defect; but virtue, growing only in the middle, is always compelled to struggle against either of these enemies fighting in turn.

Scholion 30. And again: *If two shall agree*, that is, the sinner and the mentor who exhorts him to desist from evil works; and the one reproved obeys the one who reproves him concerning every sin, whatever they ask for, forgiveness will be granted by God to the one who has sinned. And again: *If two shall agree* in good works, whatever they ask for that is according to the welfare of those asking, it will be granted to them by God. For *he will do the will of those who fear him, and will deliver them out of many tribulations*.

GRADUS II.

He who loves the Lord in truth; he who in truth seeks to attain the kingdom to come; he who in truth has felt sorrow for his own transgressions; he who in truth has acquired the memory of punishment and eternal judgment; he who in truth has taken on the fear of his own departure—he will no longer love, he will no longer have anxiety or care for money, or possessions, or parents, or the glory of this life, or friend, or brothers, or anything earthly at all; but having cast off and hated all his connection and all his concern for such things—since he has even hated his own flesh—stripped of these, and carefree, he follows Christ without delay, always looking to heaven, and receiving the help from thence, according to the holy one who said: *My soul has followed after thee*; and the other, ever-memorable one, who said: *But I have not grown weary of following thee, nor have I desired the day or the rest of man, O Lord*.

It is a great shame, altogether, that we, having abandoned all those things mentioned above after our calling—the calling with which the Lord has called us, and not a man—should concern ourselves with something that cannot benefit us in the hour of our need, that is, of our departure. For this is what the Lord meant by turning back, and not being found *fit for the kingdom of God*.

Our Lord, knowing the instability of us beginners, and how easily we, as we live among or encounter worldly things, turn back again to the world, says to the one who spoke to him: *Allow me to go and bury my father. Leave the dead to bury their own dead*. The demons, after the ^D

^A renunciation, suggest that we consider those in the world as merciful and compassionate, and [to envy] those who have deprived themselves of possessions. The goal of our enemies, through a counterfeit humility, is to either drag us back to the world, or else, if we remain monks, to cast us down into despair. It is possible to belittle those in the world out of conceit, and it is possible to despise them in their absence out of a desire to flee despair and to gain hope. Let us listen, then, to the Lord speaking to that young man, who had kept almost all the commandments, saying: *One thing you lack: sell what you possess and give to the poor, and make yourself poor, receiving alms*.

^B Whoever of us has begun to run the course of the religious life energetically and strenuously, let us carefully ponder how the Lord judged all those who live in the world, and yet are dead, saying to someone: *Leave the dead of the world to bury those who are dead in body*. Wealth did not prevent that young man from approaching baptism. Therefore, those who foolishly contend that it was commanded to the young man to sell all his possessions for the sake of receiving baptism are mistaken. Let this authority of Christ be sufficient for us as a most certain testimony of the very great glory that has been promised to our profession. It must be asked, furthermore, why those who live in the midst of the tumults of the world, and who afflict themselves with vigils, fastings, labors, and the enduring of all evils, when ^C they cross over to the solitary life—as to a tester of genuine virtue and the arena for a righteous contest—abandon their previous exercises of life as if they were counterfeit and spurious? I have seen very many and diverse plants of virtues sown by those living in the world, irrigated as if from a hidden conduit of vainglory, tended by a craving for [the opinion of] those who follow, and nourished by the dung of praises; yet, once they were transplanted into the desert—a place inaccessible to the worldly and devoid of the vainglorious and foul water of the world—they immediately withered away. For plants that have grown in damp soil are not accustomed to bear fruit in the harsh and arid gymnasiums of religious discipline. If anyone has hated the world, he has escaped sadness; but if anyone still possesses an attachment to any of the things that are seen, he is not yet ^D delivered from sadness. For how could someone not be sad when he is deprived of the things to which he is attached? In all things, we have need of a very sober mind, but this is what we must take the most care about. We have noticed not a few who, while they were still living in the din of the world’s business, had escaped the furious tyranny of their own body through the struggle and labor of cares, anxieties, fastings, and vigils—yet, later on, after they had come to the religious life of stillness, such men were miserably corrupted by the movements of their own body. Let us be watchful we do not, while saying we walk the narrow and constricted way, find that we have wandered onto the broad and spacious one. A narrow way, I will show you, is distress of the belly, the standing of the all-night vigil, a measured amount of water, the lack of bread, the [dishonor of...]

^A cup of ignominy that purges the soul; the endurance of sarcasms, derisions, and mockery; the renunciation of one's own will; patience in provocations; no murmuring against those who despise us; the weathering of the onrush of insults; if you bravely endure one who injures you, if you bear with an objector with a calm mind, if you are not angered when despised, if you humble yourself when condemned. Blessed are they who walk in the path of the aforementioned ways, ^B for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. No religious person will be admitted into the heavenly bridal chamber to receive the crown of immortality who does not observe the first, the second, and the third renunciation of self—I mean, taking leave of all things, of [all] men, and of parents—and the cutting off of one's own will, and the third renunciation: [that] of vainglory which usually follows upon obedience. "Go out from their midst, and be separate," says the Lord, "and touch no unclean thing from the world." For who among them has ever performed wonders? Who has raised the dead? Who has driven away demons? No one. For all these things are the rewards of religious men, which the world cannot contain. For if it could, why the ascetic life, or rather, the seclusion? Whenever, upon [our] renunciation, the demons inflame our heart with the memory of our parents or brothers, then let us arm ourselves against them with prayer and heat ourselves with the remembrance of eternal fire, so that by this recollection we may extinguish the untimely fire of the heart. ^C If anyone thinks he is disposed toward any thing whatsoever without attachment, yet is grieved at being deprived of it, that person has utterly deceived himself. All young men who are deeply immersed in the passions and pleasures of the body, when they desire to pass over to the discipline of the religious life, should devote themselves wholeheartedly to sobriety and prayers, and consider that they must abstain from every bodily pleasure, luxury, and wickedness, lest their latter state perform even worse than the former. The harbor (which is religion) can be both a cause of salvation and a cause of ruin: a fact not unknown to those who cross this spiritual sea. It is a pitiable spectacle to see those who have been saved across the deep, suffering shipwreck in the harbor. The second step: let him who runs imitate Lot, not Lot’s wife, by fleeing. ^D

SCHOLIA TO STEP II. Concerning detachment. Scholion 1.

Whoever remains unmoved in tranquility and affection toward love, he in truth loves the Beloved. But to turn the mind toward connections and the cares of the world is to turn back again to those things from which one has departed.

^A

Scholion of Basil the Great, 2.

Scholion 3.

David Jeremiah 4.

Another scholion.

Scholion 5.

Scholion 6.

^A

Scholion 7

Scholion 8

Scholion 9

Scholion 10

Scholion 11

Scholion 12

Scholion 13

Scholion 14

Scholion 15

Scholion 16

Scholion 17

affection toward kin and worldly things, and inflames us, so that we may cling to affection for them. For timely is the fire that is kindled by the love of God. ^A

*Scholion 18.* Every thought of a thing falling into the senses, in which the mind lingers for long, altogether shows what affection you have toward it.

*Scholion 19.* Luxuria, because of fornication and the obscuring of the mind; malice, however, because of complaints and reprimands.

GRADUS III. De peregrinatione, sive de fuga mundi et ingressu religiosae vitae.

^B Peregrinatio, or flight from the world, is the repudiation for one’s whole life of all comforts that hinder one from the goal of piety. Peregrination is a discipline of manners, unknown wisdom, detesting the public sensibility, a hidden [dissimulated] life, a goal and purpose that does not appear, silent meditation, a desire for being despised, a yearning for affliction, a proof of divine affection, an abundance of love, the proscription of vainglory, and profound silence. Moreover, this reflection is wont to clamor and press upon the followers of the Lord from the very beginning, as if they were kindled by heavenly fire; I mean the distance from one’s own [kin], for the sake of humility and affliction, which impels the lovers of such a good. Yet, as great and praiseworthy as this is, it requires an equal amount of discernment. For not every retreat ^C made with great impulse of soul is to be approved. For if, as the Lord witnesses, no prophet is despised in his own country, we must see to it that by fleeing our country, we do not seek out another country—that is, that we do not harvest a crop of vainglory. For this retreat is nothing other than being separated by thought from all things, inasmuch as your mind is not separated from God. This peregrination is the cultivator and producer of assiduous mourning. A pilgrim is one who flees every affection for his own [kin] and for others. You who are thinking of solitude, do not wait until your relatives are freed from worldly business, lest death overtake you like a thief unexpectedly. Indeed, not a few, while they waited for the slothful and idle whom they wished to save with themselves, have perished along with them as the heat of the heavenly flame ^D gradually grew cold. Therefore, having conceived this fire of divine love within you, run; since you do not know when it may be extinguished and leave you behind in darkness. For the danger of others, an account will not be demanded of us all, as the divine Apostle teaches: "So then each of us, brothers, shall give an account of himself to God." And again:

^A Eve was cast out of Paradise against her will, but the monk leaves his own country of his own will. For she was on the point of desiring the fruit of the tree of disobedience again; while he was in danger of suffering complete ruin from his kinsfolk according to the flesh. Flee from the places of your falls as from a lash. For when the fruit is not present, we do not constantly crave it. Nor let this device and trick of the thieves escape your notice; for they suggest to us not to separate from worldly people, telling us that we shall receive a great reward if we stay and master our female relatives, whom we ought not to obey, but rather do the opposite. When we have withdrawn from our relatives for a year or years, and have acquired for ourselves a little piety, or compunction, or self-control, then the thoughts of vanity suddenly stand upon us, permitting us to return again to our own country, saying that this is for the edification of many, and for an example and benefit to those who behold our virtuous deeds. And if we happen to possess the gift of speech and friendly knowledge, then they suggest that we should be saviors of souls and teachers in the world, so that what has been well gathered in the harbor may be badly scattered in the open sea. Let us be eager to imitate Lot, not his wife; for a soul that turns back to where it came from shall become like salt and, becoming insipid, it remains henceforth unmoved. Flee from Egypt without looking back. For hearts that have turned back have not beheld the land of Jerusalem, the land of dispassion. ^B There are, in the beginnings, those who, for the sake of childishness, leave their own, and having been completely purified, return to them beneficially, perhaps with the intention of saving some after they have been saved themselves. Although that Moses, the seer of God, having been sent by God for the salvation of his own kin, endured many, even in Egypt, that is to say, amidst the darkness of the world. It is better to grieve parents than the Lord; for He both created and saved, whereas they have often destroyed those whom they loved, and delivered them to punishment. That man is a stranger, who like one of another tongue, sits in knowledge among people of a different language. ^C We do not depart from our relatives or our places out of hatred—God forbid!—but to escape the harm that comes to us from them. As in all things, so in this too, Christ becomes to us a good teacher. For He Himself often appears to have left His parents according to the flesh, and when He heard from some, "Your mother and your brothers are looking for you," our good Lord and Teacher quickly showed a dispassionate hatred, saying, "My mother and my brothers are those who do the will of My Father who is in heaven." Let your father be he who is able and willing to labor with you under the burden of your sins; let your mother be compunction, which has the power to wash you clean of filth; let your brother be he who toils and struggles with you in the upward race; acquire an inseparable memory of death; and let your beloved children be the groanings of your heart. Acquire as your servant ^D your own body.

^A Friends, instead, are the holy powers, who are able to help you at the time of your departure, if they become your friends. "This is the generation of those who seek the Lord" (Ps. XXIII, 6). ^B The desire for God has extinguished the desire for parents. But he who says he possesses both is deceiving himself, hearing Him who says: "No one can serve two masters" (Matth. VI, 24), and what follows. "I have not come," says the Lord, "to bring peace upon the earth" (to those who have chosen to serve me, children from parents and brothers), "but war and a sword" (Matth. X, 34), to divide the lovers of God from the lovers of the world, the material from the immaterial, the vainglorious from the humble-minded. For the Lord delights in such division and separation, when it happens because of love for Him. See, look, lest you be filled with the waters of attachment to your dear ones, and be carried away by the flood of contention. Do not pity the tears of parents or friends, ^C if you do not wish to weep eternally. When your own people surround you like bees, or rather like wasps, and raise a lament over you, immediately fix the eye of your soul unswervingly toward death and your deeds, so that you may be able to cast off the pain with pain. Those who are our own and yet not our own cleverly promise to do everything kind for us, but their aim is to hinder our excellent course and then to drag us toward their own path. Let our retreat from places be toward those which are more desolate, less seeking of glory, and more humble; otherwise, we fly with passion. ^D Hide your nobility, and do not parade your good reputation, lest you be found one way in your body but another in your affairs. No one has surrendered himself to exile as much as that great man who heard: "Go forth from your land, and from your kindred, and from the house of your father" (Gen. XII, 1), even though he was called to a land of a strange tongue and barbaric. There are times when the Lord has glorified a man even more for having traveled as a stranger like this great one. Yet even if glory is God-given, it is good to repel it with the shield of humility. Whenever demons, or even men, praise us for our exile as for a great achievement, then let us take up the thought of Him who for our sake traveled as a stranger from heaven to earth, and we shall find ourselves unable to fulfill it for the age of ages. Hard is the attachment to any of one’s relatives, or even strangers, which is able to draw us little by little back toward the world and completely cool our fire of contrition. Just as it is impossible for the eye to look at heaven and earth at the same time, so it is impossible for one who has not completely traveled as a stranger in mind and body to all his relatives and others to avoid being endangered in his soul. With much toil and labor is a good and stable character perfected in us, and yet it is possible for what is perfected through much labor to be destroyed in a single moment; "for evil communications corrupt good manners."

whether they be vain or profane. Whoever, after having bid farewell to all things, returns to the use and familiarity of the profane masses and the world, is either altogether ensnared in the same traps with them, or defiles his mind with the thoughts of profane things; or if he is not defiled himself, he rashly condemns those who are, and thus he will always be defiled along with them.

On Dreams That Usually Follow Those Who Renounce the World

^B That our mind is altogether imperfect, and full of every ignorance, and that it is impossible to hide this, cannot be denied. For the palate distinguishes between foods; the hearing discerns thoughts; the sun reveals the weakness of the eyes; and words reveal the ignorance of the soul. Nevertheless, the law of charity urges us even to things that exceed the powers of our intellect. Therefore I think—though I do not dogmatically assert—that after the chapter on the renunciation of the world has been explained, it is consequent, or rather joined to it, that a few things be said about dreams, lest we be ignorant of this artifice of the ancient deceivers.

(20) A dream is a movement of the mind while the body is at rest. Phantasia, or a vision, is a mockery of the eyes in a sleeping mind. Phantasia, or a vision, is an abstraction of the soul from the body while it is awake. Phantasia is a void vision of things.

The reason why we have desired to speak about dreams after the preceding order is manifest: when we have left our own homes and kin for the sake of the Lord, and have sold ourselves into exile for the love of God, then the demons henceforth seek to disturb us through dreams, showing us our own kin—either lamenting, or dying, or suffering and being ravaged on our account. He who believes in dreams is like a man running after his own shadow, and trying to catch it. ^C The demons of vainglory are prophets during sleep, craftily conjecturing the future, and "proclaiming" these things to us beforehand; and when the illusions are fulfilled, we are amazed and henceforth imagine that we are already approaching the gift of foreknowledge. ^D Demons peddling the vapors of vainglory through dreams...

often become prophets to those who obey them, but they always lie to those who despise them. Being a spirit, it sees everything under the embrace of this air, and realizing that someone is dying, it predicts it in a dream through the airier spirits; they know nothing of future things through foreknowledge, since even physicians can foretell our death. They often transform themselves into an angel of light or the form of martyrs and present themselves to be seen by us in dreams, and when we have awakened, they ruin us, filled with joy and elated pride. Take this as your sign of deception: angels reveal to us punishments, judgments, and separations, and they make those who dream of them fearful and sorrowful. Whenever we begin to obey the demons in our dreams, then later they also mock us while we are awake. He who believes in dreams is altogether unproven. But he who distrusts all of them is a philosopher. Believe only those that announce to you punishments and judgment. But if despair troubles you, know that these too are from demons. ^D The third path, which is equal in number to the Trinity; he who has embarked upon it must not look to the right or to the left ^B.

SCHOLIA ON STEP III. On departure from the world, or pilgrimage.

^A Scholion 1. That is, [the abandonment] of relatives, possessions, money, food, vices or evil affections, pride and elation, places, glory, and other things of this kind.

Scholion another. A religious pilgrim is one who in his mind has left all present things behind.

Scholion another. That man is a pilgrim to whom all the affairs of the world are foreign and unknown.

Scholion another. If you go on a pilgrimage for the sake of God, do not wish to mingle yourself with those who dwell in that place, ^C nor let your speech be mingled with theirs. Otherwise, it would almost be better for you to live among your kinsmen according to the flesh.

Scholion 2. When the religious pilgrim begins to divulge the nobility of his lineage to others, or to seek honor, or to speak and act too freely, or to be puffed up and proud, such a pilgrimage is not praiseworthy.

Scholion 3. The pilgrim, through separation from all (cares and business), pursues his internal vices, and thereby becomes inseparable from God. As for the [vices] ^D...

which [one] who does not do this fails to cast off, he obtains little fruit from his pilgrimage.

^A Scholion 4. By "own will," he understands also those things which are held in high esteem in the world, but are alien to those who have abandoned the world, whether they be money or possessions. Having become alienated and a fugitive from these, one treads a reasonable and well-considered path that leads to salvation.

Scholion 5. If, having cut off the causes of the passions for a short time, we have devoted ourselves to spiritual contemplations, and are always occupied in these, making this our only task, we readily fall back again into the previous passions of the flesh, gaining from that experience nothing other than a meager knowledge accompanied by conceit, the end of which is this very prideful opinion of sparse knowledge, the confusion or blinding of the mind, and finally a total conversion of the heart back to worldly things.

Scholion 6. He (Climacus) denies that to imagine oneself to be something is the same as to be something in truth. It is therefore mere vanity, nor is it anything, nor is it called anything. The thoughts of vanity are the thoughts of pride, which create boasters and followers of empty glory.

^C Scholion 7. The love of one’s own things turned Lot's wife into a statue; affection for the things of others deprived Esau of his birthright; the pursuit of one’s own will afflicted the members of the people in the desert; the desire for the goods of others killed Jezebel; the longing for money made Judas a traitor. He who is free from these passions of affection truly finds the hospitable tabernacle and life of the pilgrim Abraham.

Scholion 8. Observe how the turning back did not happen toward things and business, but only insofar as the thought and the mind approached too closely to worldly matters, and thereby incurred the judgment of condemnation. For the mind or spirit of the people, not the people themselves, descended into the places neighboring Egypt.

^D Scholion 9. That man is a pilgrim who, dwelling among people of his own tongue, behaves like an alien as if he were ignorant of that language, that is to say, as one having a different speech and voice, not the same as those who speak a different language, and not of the same tongue. He sits silent, collected within himself, because he judges himself unworthy to speak with anyone or to act too familiarly, and these things have been seen [as correct] by the exalted Fathers.

Scholion 10. Hatred is a hidden affection of the mind, by which one is indignant against something that is troublesome; or hatred is the alienation of the mind from that which is unpleasant or disagreeable; or hatred is the turning away of the mind from those things that are troublesome to us. Therefore, the withdrawal of monks, who associate familiarly with others, is governed by none of these.

^A Scholion 11. Acquire friends, though not all who desire it, but those who are worthy by nature.

Scholion 12. Desire is a fervor of the soul conceived from the affection for the beloved, as if by fire. Another. Desire is an expansion of friendship that plays with the beloved.

Scholion 13. If you are a secular, remain in the way of life of secular goods; if you are a monk, occupy yourself in the pursuits in which monks excel. If, however, you desire to pursue both lives at once, you will attain neither and lose both.

Scholion 14. He who aspires to the greatest things disregards the more trivial ones.

Scholion 15. If you love what you ought, you will not love what you ought not. Another. Labor accurately at what you do, so that you may avoid the labors of foolish labors. Another. Our natural parents are indeed our own according to the nearness of blood; but they are not our own when they do not help us in our pious intention.

^B Scholion 16. One must take care lest ignoble deeds prove the nobility of one’s birth to be a lie. Another. Do not rely on the nobility of birth, which is of the flesh; for the carnal man does not perceive the things of the Spirit.

Scholion 17. When you hear the Lord saying, "Whoever does not renounce all that he possesses is not worthy of me," do not understand this as applying only to money, but to all sinful matters and affairs. "No one," he says, "who serves as a soldier entangles himself in the affairs of this life." For he who wishes to overcome the passions while entangled in these cares is like one who attempts to extinguish a fire with chaff and straw.

^C Scholion 18. He called worldly conversations those which are of the world; and he called them improper because they are shameful and harmful to those who have fled the world and renounced it.

Scholion 19. In this manner (and for this reason) solitude is often useful, sometimes for those first departing from the world, and sometimes even for the strong and the trained. For those fleeing the world first, so that they may not have ^D an opportunity to increase their passions; and for the strong, in...

order that they may not always be tossed in the midst of the material of sin and be forced to remain in the battle line against the enemy (to avoid exposing themselves to dangers).

^A Scholion 20. You will understand the distinction between a vision and a dream in this way: a vision is that which appears and is seen in sleep as if in sense-perception; a dream is that which is pondered and cogitated through the imagination during sleep.

Scholion 21. By the word "immobility" he signifies rest. Since motion is understood in six ways according to kind (that is, generation, corruption, augmentation, alteration, diminution, and change of place), the body appears to lack none of these. But it rests more while enjoying sleep; and that which is by nature mobile, is then as if it were immobile—mobile, indeed, by its own nature, but immobile because of what has happened to it.

Diadochus, c. 38 and 59. Regarding the fact that it is good to trust no nocturnal vision at all, let the servant be an example to us of this matter: a master, returning from a long journey, calls out at night before the courtyard of the house, to whom the servant refused to open the doors at all. For he feared lest a similarity of voice might deceive him and make him a betrayer of the things he had been entrusted with by his master. And when day had come, his master was not only not angry with him, but honored him with many praises, because he had considered even his master’s voice to be a phantasm, so that he might not lose any of his master’s possessions. ^{B C}

GRADUS IV. On blessed and ever-to-be-remembered obedience.

Admonition is now directed by us to the pugilists and athletes of ^D Christ, who come before us in their proper place and order. Just as the flower precedes every fruit, so exile from the world, whether of the body or of the will, precedes all obedience. For by these two virtues, as if by golden wings, the holy soul ardently strives upward toward heaven. And perhaps it was concerning this that the prophet, drunk with the draught of the divine Spirit, sang when he said: "Who will give me wings like a dove, and I will fly?" (Ps. LIV, 7)—that is, through action—"and I will find rest," through contemplation and humility? But, if it seems good, we must not pass over in our discourse the manner of the armor of these noble warriors: we must explain in words how they are accustomed to hold the shield of faith toward God and toward the director of the wrestling-school, by which they repel every thought, so to speak, of unbelief or apostasy; and how they always keep the sword of the Spirit drawn, to slay the sense of a contrary will; and how they don the iron breastplates of meekness and patience, by which they repel every insult, goad, and dart of words directed against them; and how they wear the helmet of salvation, the protection of the superior’s prayer for us. And they do not stand with their feet together at all, but rather, as they stretch out one for service, they offer the other for prayer.

^C Obedience is the perfect renunciation of one's own soul, demonstrated actively through the body. Or perhaps, conversely, obedience is the living slaughter of the senses in the soul. Obedience is a simple movement, an unshakeable state; it is voluntary death, a life without curiosity, a danger without anxiety, a defense before God that needs no defense, a security in death, a navigation without peril, a pilgrimage while sleeping. Obedience is the tomb of the will and the resurrection of humility; it does not speak against, nor does it judge, for it is as one dead to all things, whether good or seemingly evil. For he who has piously mortified his soul will surely cleanse and defend himself in all things; for he who has piously slaughtered his own mind will be excused in all matters. Obedience is the renunciation of one’s own judgment, together with the height of discernment. The beginning of this religious death, brought about by the will of the soul and the sensation and limbs of the body, involves labor. Its middle is sometimes still laborious, and sometimes it is free from labor. Its end is already free from any sensation of labor and from the stirring of perturbation. Then a man first becomes truly blessed and dead-while-alive, feeling labor and pain only when he perceives that he has followed his own will, from which he dreads the weight of his own judgment.

On those who strive for the stadium of intellectual confession

^A It is altogether necessary that he who is determined to keep intact the constancy of a good mind toward his superiors, should store up their good deeds and virtues in the innermost feelings of his soul and never wipe them from his memory, but keep them fixed and eternal; so that if at any time the sowers of evil, the demons, should scatter seeds of mistrust in us against the superiors of the monastery, we may beat back the jaws of the Cerberus by the recollection of our past life. For the more faith in the soul of the subject flourishes toward the religious Fathers, the more readily will it circulate throughout all the duties of the body. Whoever, however, stumbles upon the rock of a doubting mind, shall fall; nay, he has already fallen. For whatever is not of faith is sin [Rom. xiv, 23].

^B When a crowd of thoughts impels you, either to inquire into your president, or to condemn him, retreat from them as you would from fornication; neither deceived by this viper, give it any trust, nor give it place, nor entrance, nor any origin of a foothold. But rather address that serpent thus: "Do you hear, deceiver of the human race? I am not the judge of my superior, but he is the judge of himself: he is not my judge, but mine." Our ancients called the psalmodies the weapons of religion; prayers, the ramparts; and sincere tears, the bath: but they judged holy obedience to be the confession, without which no one who is subject to vices will be admitted to the sight of God. ^C The subject brings judgment upon himself. For if he obeys perfectly for the sake of the divine grace, although he may not seem to do it perfectly, he has nonetheless freed himself by his judgment. But if in any matter he does something according to the arbitration of his own will, even if he seems to obey, he shall nevertheless approach the trial of divine judgment. If, however, the prefect of the monastery does not cease to strike him with a continuous clamor of words, he is not yet past hope. If, however, the coenobiarch is silent (as one who has despaired), I have nothing to say. Those who in the Lord are subject with simplicity, do not bring upon themselves, by the curious investigation of hidden things, the snares and arts of the demons, and they finish the race of life happily. But first of all, let us disclose our sins of past life to our good judge, and that either alone, or if he commands it, to all. For wounds shown and brought out into public are easily cured and will not fester anymore.

^D 45 When I had come to the monastery of a certain illustrious judge and religious pastor, I saw a truly tremendous judgment before the tribunal. From the ranks of the robbers, in my presence, came a certain man to embrace a religious life. To him that excellent pastor and physician gave seven days to enjoy a rest of soul, within which he might explore the customs of the place and the state of religious life there. After the week was exacted, the president, having called him apart, inquired whether it pleased him to spend his life there with the others. When he perceived that he was most ready, and had responded without fraud or deceit, he further asked what he had done in his whole life that was wicked and villainous. When he also perceived that this man had confessed openly, readily, and prudently; again for the sake of testing him, he said: "It pleases me, that you publicly expose in the assembly of the whole monastery what you have disclosed here only to me." Here he, truly loathing his own crimes and pursuing them with true hatred, with all shame and modesty cast aside, promised most steadfastly that he would do it: "And, if it pleases you," he said, "in the middle..."

^A of the days, after the completion of the Gospel reading, he brings forward that blameless convict, being dragged by certain brothers and being moderately struck, his hands bound behind his back, clothed in a rough hair-shirt, and with ashes upon his head, so that all were struck with horror by the very sight of the man, and at the first look they all burst out into open wailing; for no one knew what was happening. Then, as he reached the doors of the church, that holy shepherd of men, seeking the salvation of souls, cried out to him with a great voice: "Stop, for you are unworthy to enter here." ^B Struck with terror at the voice of the shepherd which was directed toward him from the sanctuary—for he thought, as he most solemnly affirmed to us, that he had not heard the voice of a man, but the rumble of thunder—he fell down immediately upon his face, having become trembling and totally shaken by fear. Lying then upon the ground, and watering the pavement with a copious rain of tears, he is ordered again by that marvelous physician—who was managing his salvation in every way, and providing to all a pattern of salvation and effective humility—to relate all the things he had done, item by item, before everyone. And he, with trembling, confesses everything one by one, to the astonishment of all who heard; not only those things which are natural, and against nature, among rational ^C beings and brute animals; but even as far as sorceries, and murders, and other things which it is not right to hear, or for writing to hand down. Having been purified, therefore, by confession, he orders him immediately to be tonsured as a monk, and to be admitted into the brotherhood of the brethren. But I, having admired the wisdom of that holy man—of the prelate, I say—was asking him privately for what reason he had performed such a strange ritual. And that true physician said: "For two reasons I did this: first, so that by openly confessing his crimes, through the current blush of shame, I might deliver him from the ignominious shame of the future; which has ^D indeed happened. For he did not rise from the ground, O brother John, until he had obtained the forgiveness of all things; and do not disbelieve it; for who of the brothers remaining there has emboldened himself, saying: 'I was beholding a certain terrible man having a written scroll and a reed; and at the same time,' he says, 'as the man lying there uttered a sin, that terrible one recorded it with the reed'; and deservedly so. For I have said, he says: 'I will confess against myself my injustice to the Lord; and You have forgiven the impiety of my heart.' Second, because there are some whom I possess who have unconfessed faults, and because of this, I might encourage others to confession, without which no one will obtain forgiveness." And I have seen many other wonderful and memorable things with that ever-memorable shepherd and his flock, most of which I shall try to make known to you; for I remained with him for no little time, tracing their way of life, and being greatly astonished at this, as to how those earthly ones were imitating those of heaven.

^A Among them, love was an indissoluble bond; and what is more wonderful, it was set free from all boldness and idle talk. Above all things, they practiced this: not to wound the conscience of a brother in any matter. And if anyone was seen to be hostile, the shepherd would banish him to the separate monastery as a condemned man. Once, when one of the brothers reviled his neighbor, the all-holy one immediately commanded him to be driven away, saying that he would not permit a visible and an invisible devil to be in the monastery. I saw among those holy ones things useful and truly worthy of admiration: a brotherhood assembled and bound together according to the Lord, possessing a wonderful discipline of both action and contemplation. For they so exhausted and trained themselves in divine achievements, that they had almost no need of the shepherd's admonition; rather, they used to rouse each other toward divine alertness. For they had fixed, meditated, and established certain divine exercises. If it seemed that one of them had ever begun to speak revilingly, or to judge, or in general to indulge in idle talk while the superior was not present, another brother, by a nod, would secretly admonish him and cause him to cease. If he perhaps did not perceive it, the one who admonished him would then prostrate himself in repentance and withdraw. Their conversation (if they had to speak) was unceasing and without pause: the remembrance of death and the thought of eternal judgment.

^C I will not be silent in telling you of the most paradoxical achievement of the cook there. For, seeing him constantly possessed of sorrow in his service, and yet ever bathed in a fountain of tears, I besought him not to be burdened by revealing to me from where he had been deemed worthy of such grace. Constrained by my importunity, he answered: "I have never considered myself to be serving men, but God; and judging myself unworthy of any rest, I possess the very sight of fire as a remembrance of the future flame throughout all time." Let us hear another of their paradoxical achievements. For not even at the table itself did they cease from their mental labor. By a certain unknown manner and by a nod of the soul, the blessed ones would remind ^D themselves of prayer; and they were seen doing this not only at the table, but also in every encounter and meeting they had with one another. If ever one of them had committed a fault, he received many petitions from the brethren requesting that he leave to them the care of this matter, and the defense, and the rebuke; from which the great one, having recognized the labor of his disciples, would thereafter provide lighter rebukes, knowing that the one being rebuked was not culpable; yet he did not seek out the one who had actually fallen into the transgression. Where

among them was there ever any mention of idle talk or jesting? And if any of them began to harbor doubts toward his neighbor, another passing by would perform an act of repentance and dissipate the anger. If he perceived that they were nursing a grudge, he would report the impulse to the one holding the second place under the superior, and before the setting of the sun, he would cause them to be reconciled to one another. But if they remained hardened in spirit, they were admonished either to refrain from food until reconciled, or were cast out of the monastery. This praiseworthy strictness was observed among them, ^A not merely in a simple or casual way, but in a manner that was fruitful and clearly beneficial. For many among those holy men proved themselves to be men of action and men of vision, discerning and humble. It was a fearful and angelic sight to behold among them men of venerable grey hair, solemn and holy to behold, running to perform acts of obedience like infants, possessing their own humility as their greatest boast. I saw there men who had spent about fifty years under the yoke of obedience, whom I asked to learn what consolation they had received from such great toil. Some of them said that they had at last descended into the abyss of humility, through which they ward off every battle for all eternity; others said they now possessed a perfect insensibility to, and disregard for, insults and abuse. I have seen others of those ^B ever-memorable men, with their angelic grey hair, who had attained to the deepest guilelessness, a shorn simplicity, and a voluntary, God-hating... for there is one thing that appears, and another that is hidden; thus is the simple man not double, but one thing. He is not irrational, nor unwise according to the elders of this world—whom those who have surpassed them love to call "dotards"—but outwardly they are gentle, kind, joyful, having an unaffected, unsophisticated, and unadulterated character and manner—a thing not found in many. But inwardly, in their souls, they breathe out God Himself and their superior like innocent infants, and they have the eye of their mind fierce, firm, and turned toward the demons and the passions.

My life, ^C O holy head and God-beloved assembly, will fail me before I can explain by recounting the virtues and the truly heavenly manner of life of those blessed ones. But it is better to adorn our book by explaining their labors and struggles, and to encourage you to the pursuit of heavenly things rather than by our own precepts. For who would deny that the lesser is adorned by the greater? This alone I would request of you: that you do not think that anything we have written has been fabricated. For when faith in historical accounts is set aside, it customary for this to destroy all the profit of reading. ^D Let us return again to the narrative we have begun.

^A A certain man named Isidore, a citizen of Alexandria, a man of noble rank and distinguished in the administration of the city, had some years before renounced the world and betaken himself to the aforementioned monastery, where I myself also found him. This most holy abbot of the monastery, having observed that he was naturally very stubborn, cruel, formidable, and arrogant, ^B and perceiving the cleverness of the demons working through human thought, a most wise father, intending to foil the arts of the demons with human wisdom, spoke to Isidore: "If you have truly set your heart on taking up the yoke of Christ, I wish for you to practice obedience before all else." He replied, "Just as iron is unto the blacksmith, most holy father, so have I surrendered myself to you to be fashioned." The great man, being encouraged by this response, immediately set Isidore to the anvil and said, "It is my will, brother, that you stand at the gate of the monastery, and to every soul entering or leaving, you must fall upon your knees and say: 'Pray for me, father, for I am an epileptic.'" And he obeyed, ^C acting like an angel unto the Lord. After he had spent seven years there, having been brought to the deepest humility and compunction, the blessed abbot deemed him, after this canonical seven-year period and the man’s unspeakable patience, as one truly worthy, to be numbered among the brotherhood and counted worthy of ordination. But Isidore, through the intercession of many others and also through myself, a wretch, made many petitions to the abbot that he might be permitted, by his gracious consent, to remain in the same place at the gate and finish the course of his life, hinting somewhat obscurely at the fact that he was already reaching the finish line of his struggle and was close to being called from this life—which is exactly what soon came to pass. For when the master had left him in his post, on the tenth day thereafter, ^D having walked the path toward glory through the contempt of glory, he departed to the Lord. Seven days after his death, he took the gatekeeper with him, as the blessed man had previously promised him: "If I find boldness before the Lord, you shall not be long separated from me there," which indeed came to pass, providing the most certain assurance of his unashamed obedience and Christ-mimicking humility.

I asked this great Isidore, while he was still alive, what his mind had been preoccupied with while he was at the gate. And, wishing to be of benefit to me, the ever-memorable man did not hide it. "In the beginning," he said, "I thought that I had been sold because of my sins. For this reason, I performed my repentance with all bitterness, and violence, and blood. But after a year had passed, I began to have peace in my heart, receiving from God Himself the reward for my endurance. After another year had passed, I began to consider myself unworthy of the community of the monastery, of the sight and fellowship of the Fathers, of partaking of the mysteries, and of the vision of any face. With my eyes cast downward and my mind lowered, I began to pray sincerely for the prayer of those entering and leaving."

^A

As I was sitting one day at the table with that great superior, he leaned his holy mouth toward my ear and said, "Do you wish me to show you, in a man of greatest old age and advanced years, a divine mind and discernment?" When I asked him to do so, the just man called over a certain Laurentius from the second table, who had been in the monastery for about forty-eight years and was second in seniority among the priests. When he came and knelt before the superior, he was blessed by him, but when he stood up, the superior said absolutely nothing to him; rather, he left him standing before the table, not eating—this was at the beginning of the meal—so that he remained standing for a long hour, or even two; to the point that I myself was ashamed and did not dare to look into the face of the servant of God. For he was completely white-haired, in his eightieth year. ^B And since he remained without answering until the meal was finished, when we rose, he was sent by the holy superior to the aforementioned great Isidore, with instructions to recite the first verse of the thirty-ninth psalm: *I waited patiently for the Lord*. As one quite wicked, I did not neglect the opportunity to test the old man. I asked him, therefore, what indeed he was thinking while he stood at the table. "Assigning the person of Christ to my superior," he said, "I thought that I was receiving orders not from a man, but plainly from God Himself. Therefore, Father John, I seemed to myself to be standing not at a table of men who were reclining, but at the altar of God, and I stood praying to God; nor did I harbor any evil thought at all toward the pastor, because of my faith and love for him. For it has been said by someone, *Love thinketh no evil* (I Cor. XIII, 5). But know this also, Father: that when someone gives himself over to simplicity and voluntary innocence, the evil one no longer has a place there, or occupies it for a moment. The Lord is just, and just as He was that savior of the rational flock through God, so He sent him another to manage the monastery; for he was as sober, if anyone was, and as mild and meek as almost no other. Yet the great Father, for the instruction and salvation of others, severely scolded this man, appearing to be acting quite without cause, and ordered him to be importunately cast out of the church. ^C Since I knew full well that he was free from the fault with which he was charged, I began to institute a defense for the steward privately with the superior. Then that wise man said: "I know, father, I know, but just as it is not right to snatch bread from the mouth of a hungry infant, but rather pitiable; so too, for one who is set over souls to injure himself and the worker, [without] (34) procuring for him crowns, such as he knows he endures at every hour, whether through insults, or through dishonors, through...

^A rendering them contemptible or mocking them. For he is ^B harmed in three ways most of all: first, because he himself is deprived of the reward from the patience of [the subject’s] rebuke; second, because he failed to make his own merit profitable to others, when he was able; third, and gravest of all, because it often happens that even those who seem to be very laborious and patient, if they are neglected for a time and—as it were—deemed virtuous, provided they are not rebuked or reproached by their superior, are stripped of the gentleness and patience they formerly possessed. For even if the earth is good, fruitful, and rich, if the irrigation of the moisture of dishonor is lacking, it is wont to grow wild and degenerate into thickets of pride, debauchery, and—once the fear of God is cast out—harmful self-confidence. Knowing this, that great Apostle wrote to Timothy: "Be instant, rebuke, punish, exhort them in season and out of season." ^B But as I continued to argue against that guide of souls, and put forward the weakness of our generation, and how many are perhaps torn from the flock by rebukes, whether they be just or unjust—again [the voice of] the house of wisdom said: "A soul bound by love of the shepherd for Christ’s sake, and by faith, does not depart even unto blood; especially if it has previously been benefited by him, remembering Him who said: 'Neither Angels, nor Principalities, nor Powers, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of Christ.' But if a soul is not thus bound, attached, and glued to its guide, I wonder why it remains in this place pointlessly, detained by a forced and hollow obedience. Yet that eminent overseer of souls is not false; rather, he has conquered, led, and perfected, and offered up spotless sacrifices to Christ. Let us hear the wisdom of God, and marvel that it is found in earthen vessels."

^D Admiring the faith, patience, and unassailable perseverance of certain recruits present there under the rebukes, ignominies, and sometimes even injuries of their superior—and not only of the superior, but of those far inferior to him—I sought, for the sake of an example, [to speak with] one of the brothers (who had already spent a full fifteen years in the monastery, by name Abbacyrus, whom I saw being harassed by all indiscriminately, and being driven from the table by the servants almost daily, for he was a brother who by nature had a slightly unruly tongue). I addressed him, saying, "Brother Abbacyrus, why do I see you driven from the table every day, and often going to sleep without supper?" And he says: "Believe me, Father, that my fathers are testing me, whether I am truly fulfilling the monastic life, since they do not do this in truth; and I, therefore, knowing the aim of the great one and of them, endure everything ungrudgingly." And lo, for fifteen years I have had this...

^A been reflecting on this, just as the Fathers testified to me at my entrance into the religious life, that they are accustomed to exercise their novices, who have renounced human affairs, in this trial up to the thirtieth year, to test their constancy. And deservedly so, Father John, for without testing, gold is neither refined nor perfected.

This noble Abbacyrus, therefore, two years after I had arrived, departed this life; and as he was about to pass away, he addressed the Fathers in failing tones: "Thanks, I give thanks to the Lord," he said, "and to you, for because of your testing me for my salvation, I have remained for seventeen years, see, free from the attacks of demons." And him, as a confessor, the righteous Judge, the shepherd, ordered to be laid to rest alongside the holy Fathers who were already lying there.

^B I would certainly wrong all those who are zealous for noble things if I were to shroud in the silence of oblivion the achievement and struggle of Macedonius, the first among the deacons there. This man, beloved of God, when the feast of the holy Epiphany was approaching, begged the shepherd two days before to allow him to go into the city of Alexandria on account of some private business, promising, however, to return promptly for the feast day and the preparation. But the enemy of all that is good, the evil demon, having placed obstacles in the way of the archdeacon, caused him—despite having been given leave by the hegumen—not to return to the monastery by the appointed day for the holy feast, as he had ^C promised the superior.

When he arrived a day late, the shepherd of the community stripped him of the honor of his ministry and office and relegated him to the rank of the novices. The archdeacon, that servant of patience and endurance, received the Father’s verdict and punishment so calmly and gently, as if it had been imposed on someone else and not on him. Therefore, when he had spent forty days among the novices, the superior of the monastery restored him to his own place and honor. But the archdeacon, the very next day, besought his superior, begging him to allow him to continue to live and persevere in his imposed punishment, place, and disgrace among the novices, claiming that he had committed an inexpiable sin in Alexandria, worthy of no pardon. Although the holy Father knew well that he was not speaking the truth, but was seeking this for the sake of humility, he nevertheless yielded to the noble desire of God’s servant. ^D You could have seen, then, the venerable hoary head of the archdeacon standing in the lowest rank of the novices, and sincerely begging the prayers of all for himself. "Since I have fallen," he said, "into the crime and sin of disobedience."

To me, one of the last, that great Macedonius affirmed the reason why he had spontaneously hastened to that state of abjection and humility of life. "Because," he said, "I have never before felt such lightness under the weight of the religious struggle, nor have I perceived such sweetness and savor of divine light within me as I have seen now." "It is the way of angels," he said, "not to fall—perhaps because they are unable, as some say; but it is human to fall, and to rise again quickly, as often as this may happen; while it is the way of demons alone, once they have fallen, not to rise again."

^A The steward of the monastery (who seems to have been someone other than the deacon) faithfully confided this to me: "When I was," he said, "a youth, and was engaged in the care of the irrational animals, it happened that I fell into a very grievous injury to my soul. But since I had been accustomed never to harbor a serpent in the fold of my heart, I seized this serpent by the tail—by the tail, I mean the end of the action—and bringing it to the physician, I confessed my sin to him. He, with a smiling face, having gently stroked my cheek, said: 'Go, my son, and just as before, perform the duty of your ministry, fearing nothing at all.' And I, being persuaded by an ardent faith, having within a few days received the assurance of healing, ran my course rejoicing and trembling at the same time."

In every state of things created by God, there are, as some say, certain differences. Since, therefore, there were among the assembly of the brethren differences in progress and perception, when the physician of souls noticed some individuals showing off during the visits of outsiders to the monastery, he would mark them out, and while those guests were present, he would occupy them with the most lowly services and load them with the final insults, so that thereafter, whenever they saw anyone from the world arriving, they would immediately withdraw themselves from their sight. And it was a marvelous thing to see vain glory fleeing from itself and hiding from the sight of men. ^B

But lest the Lord, wishing to deprive me of the prayers of a certain holy Father—whom He had taken up into heaven just one week before I was to depart from the monastery, a man truly excellent, and in dignity and office next to the abbot, by name Menas, who had spent fifty-nine years in the cenobium and held the administration of the whole house as the second abbot—I say, on the third day after the death of this holy man, while we were performing the customary prayers and obsequies for him, suddenly the whole oratory, or the place in which the funeral lay, was filled with a most delightful odor. ^C Therefore, the superior of the cenobium ordered the coffin to be opened; and then we all who were present saw as if from two fountains the sweet fragrance of ointment flowing from his venerable feet. Then the teacher said to all: "Do you see, brethren? Behold, the sweats of his labors and toils [from his feet] were presented to God as an odor of ointment." And truly so. ^D And the fathers of that place told us many other excellent deeds about that most holy Menas, among which they also said this: "When once the superior of the cenobium had decided to test his divine patience, and he returned home from somewhere, and in the evening prostrated himself in the manner of a penitent at the feet of the superior, and according to custom sought the grace of a blessing, the Father left him lying on the ground as he was until the hour of the canon; then, at last, having blessed him, and reviled him as an exhibitionist and impatient, he raised him up." For the holy man knew that he was enduring it bravely; therefore, he performed the spectacle for the edification of all. But this holy man...

Menas's disciple witnessed to us regarding this: "Wherefore," said he, "when I asked him curiously if, during that long-continued prostration while lying at the feet of his president, he had been seized by any sleep, he swore holily that he had recited the entire Psalter while lying on the ground." I will not fail to adorn the crown of my discourse with this present emerald ^A.

I once raised a discussion about the quiet and solitary life with some of those most courageous elders; and they, smiling with a placid countenance and a cheerful manner, wittily said to me: "We, Father John, being material, follow a way of life more suited to our bodies, believing it better for our own condition if, in proportion to our human weakness, we were to undergo a gentler kind of warfare—to struggle with men who are sometimes savage but sometimes repentant, rather than to struggle and fight at all times against demons who are the eternal and raging enemies of the human race."

Then another of that ever-memorable company of Fathers, embracing me with singular affection and holy love and confidence, said to me with kindness: "If, most wise of men, you possess in the feeling of your soul the power of him who said, *I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me*, if the Holy Spirit has come upon you like the dew of chastity in the Virgin, if the power of the Most High has overshadowed you with patience ^B, then gird up your loins like a man (that is, Christ our God), with the linen cloth of obedience, and rising from the supper of your quiet and solitary life, wash the feet of your brethren in spirit and with a contrite heart. Indeed, with a deeply submissive sense of mind, subject yourself to the feet of your companions. Station sharp and ever-watchful guards at the entrances of your heart; keep your mind firm and unconquered while your body is distracted by various affairs; cultivate spiritual quiet amidst limbs agitated and tossed by various cares. And that which is the most beautiful of all, but the most rare, let your mind be imperturbable and fearless in the midst of the tumults of crowds and cares. Restrain your furious tongue, which is prone to contradiction, and battle daily seventy times seven against this wicked mistress. Choose the anvil—that is, the mind—upon the wood of the soul, which is the cross, so that, beaten by the alternating blows and clatters of hammers, insulted, vexed by calumnies, agitated by mockery, and afflicted by injuries, it may neither be broken nor injured in any way, but remain altogether level, smooth, and unmoved. Cast off your will as a useless veil of shame, and naked, enter the wrestling-ground or stadium ^C. The rare and difficult thing: put on the breastplate of faith, which is not dissolved nor wounded by unbelief toward the Author of the contest; hold with the bridle of temperance the touch that impertinently leaps forward; check the eye with the meditation of death, that it may not desire at every hour to busy itself with the size and age of bodies; muzzle the mind that is busy, in its own care, when it wishes to condemn a brother in the negligence of his deeds ^D."

^A And showing forth to one's neighbor all love and sympathy without error. All will truly know in this, O most dear father, that you are a disciple of Christ, if we have love one for another in the assembly. Come, come, the good friend would say again, come, dwell with us. Drink up derision every hour, as if it were living water; for after David had searched out all the delightful things under heaven, finally, being in doubt about all of them, he said: "Behold, what is good and what is pleasant? Nothing other than for brothers to dwell together." But if we have not yet been deemed worthy of the good of such patience and obedience, it is well, therefore, having recognized our own weakness, to stand by ourselves, afar off from the athletic stadium, to call those who are struggling blessed, and to pray for patience for them. I have been defeated ^B by the good father and excellent master who fought against us with evangelical and prophetic oracles—or rather, more with friendly love—and we have desired without doubt to grant the prizes to blessed obedience. And yet, having mentioned one more profitable virtue of these blessed ones, as if exiting from paradise, I will again offer to you unsightly and unprofitable brambles of my speech.

^C When we were frequently present at their prayers, the blessed shepherd took note of certain ones who were conversing among themselves; whom he stationed before the doors of the church for a week and commanded to seek pardon from all who were entering and leaving; and what is even more wonderful, although they were clerics, that is, presbyters. I observed one of the brotherhood praying more attentively than the many with singular affection of heart, especially at the beginning of the psalms and hymns, when he spoke as if with certain persons ^D by his nods and by the expression of his face. To one inquiring sincerely and without guile as to the reason for this holy custom, so that it might profit me, he confessed: "Father John," he said, "at the beginning of prayer I am accustomed to gather together my thoughts and my mind with my soul, and calling them together I cry out to them: 'Come, let us worship and fall down before Christ our King and our God.'" But having busied myself with careful observation, I caught the one who was steward doing this; for seeing him having a small tablet hanging from his belt, I learned that he was noting down his own thoughts day by day, and reporting all of them to the shepherd. Nor only this, but I observed many others of those there doing this same thing; and this was also a command of the great one, as it was fitting. Someone from the brothers was once driven away by him for slandering his neighbor as a chatterbox and a talker. But he persevered with...

^A a seven-day vigil at the gate of the monastery, entreating and begging for forgiveness. When the one who loved souls learned of this, and had inquired about him, discovering that he had tasted absolutely nothing for those six days, he sent word to him: "If you truly wish to take up residence in the monastery, I shall place you in the rank of the penitents." Since he gladly accepted this in repentance, the shepherd commanded him to be taken to the monastery which is set apart for those mourning for their falls, which is what happened.

Since we have mentioned the aforementioned monastery, let us speak briefly about it. It was a place one mile away from the great monastery, called the Prison, ^B where it was never possible to see smoke, nor was wine or oil ever used for food, nor anything else besides bread and small herbs. In this place, he used to shut up those who, after their religious profession, had lapsed into sin, in such a way that they could never step outside; nor did he join many together, but kept them individually, or at most two by two, until the Lord gave him assurance regarding each one. He set over them a certain excellent man named Isaac, who demanded from those committed to him the task of constant prayer and almost never permitted them to cease from their vows. He supplied them with a great quantity of palm leaves, [from which] to avoid idleness [they wove baskets].

This was the manner of life, this the state, this the discipline ^C of those who truly sought the face of the God of Jacob. To admire the labors of the holy athletes is an excellent thing, but to emulate them procures salvation. Yet, to wish to achieve their manner of life by imitation in a single moment is insane and beyond human strength. When our conscience puts us to death for our transgressions, let us turn our sins over in our minds for as long as the Lord, seeing our labor and the violence that these violent contenders inflict upon themselves, may wipe away our sins and transform the torture of our conscience into joy. For "according to the multitude of my sorrows in my heart," says the Psalmist, "your consolations have gladdened my soul." At the proper time let us not forget him who says to the Lord: "How many ^D troubles, many and grievous, you have shown me, yet you have turned and brought me to life, and brought me up again from the depths of the earth after my fall." Happy is he who, daily insulted and abused for God's sake, violently masters himself (through patience), for he shall dance with the martyrs and will walk freely among the angels as an angel. Blessed is that monk who considers himself worthy of all contempt, and considers himself a man of no account or use. Blessed also is he who has completely slain the free will of his own mind, and has committed his entire care to the charge of his religious master. If he cast away from himself any reproof, whether just or unjust, he has preserved his own salvation.

^A If, however, anyone accepts it with difficulty, or even without pain, he will quickly obtain the forgiveness of his own faults. Manifestly show your faith and sincere love toward your father to God in your mind, and he will secretly cause him to be convinced of your disposition toward him, and to look upon you as his own. He who openly brands the serpent has shown evident faith; but he who conceals it is still wandering in pathless ways. A man will then recognize his own brotherly love, and truly his charity, when he sees himself grieving over a brother's faults, and when he rejoices [(55)] in his progress and gifts. He who in conversation [(56)] wishes and desires to establish his own word, even if he speaks the truth, should know that he is suffering from the devil’s sickness. And if he does this in conversation with his equals, perhaps he may be cured by the rebukes of his superiors. But if he is so disposed toward his elders or the wiser, this is incurable by men. He who does not submit in word [(57)], it is clear that he will not submit in deed. For he who is unfaithful in little is also unyielding in deed, laboring in vain, and gaining nothing from holy obedience except condemnation for himself. If anyone has attained a pure conscience to the highest degree in obedience to his father, he therefore does not fear death, awaiting it every day as sleep, or rather as life; knowing for certain that at the time of his departure, it is not he, but his superior who will have to give the account. If anyone who has received from his father in the Lord an undoubting charge of service meets with an unexpected stumbling block in it, let him not impute the cause to the one who gave the weapon, but to the one who received it. For he received a weapon for the battle against the enemy, but he directed it against his own heart. ^B But if he was compelled and forewarned his superior of his own weakness for the Lord's sake, let him take courage; for even if he has fallen [(58)], he has not perished. It has escaped me, friends, to set before you this sweet bread of virtue, as I have seen [there] in the Lord those who are obedient, wearing themselves out with insults, disgracing themselves according to God, so that they may be prepared not to be shaken by the insults brought upon them from outside; a soul that contemplates confession is, as if by a bridle, held by it, so as not to sin. For we do things that are not confessed as if they were in darkness, and therefore we do them fearlessly. When, in the absence of the superior, we imagine his countenance to be present with us, and we shun in our presence every encounter, or word, or food, or sleep, or anything else which we assume would be displeasing to him, then we have truly known unadulterated obedience. For the bastard children regard the absence of the teacher as a joy, but the genuine count it a loss. I once asked one of the most approved men, how obedience possesses humility; and he says: «Even if a grateful obedient man were to raise the dead, ^C he would still consider that it was due to the prayers of his father, and not to his own virtue, that this had been accomplished.» Whoever rejects reproof, whether just or unjust, acts against his own salvation. But if he accepts it either with difficulty or gladly, he will quickly obtain forgiveness for his sins. Show your mind to God as a witness of your good faith, and your sincere affection for your religious superior, and he will make your feeling of sincere affection known to him through a secret instinct, and will in turn make him easy, gentle, and familiar to you as you desire. He who hides no serpent in his breast shows most certain faith. But he who conceals it in the secret places of his conscience wanders far from the path of virtue. He who deeply grieves over the sins of his religious brother, and sincerely rejoices in his progress in virtues and heavenly graces, he at last understands that he possesses severe and genuine charity and love for him. He who in common conversation persists in defending his own opinion, however true it may be, let him know that he is suffering from a diabolical malady. If he does this in conversation with his equals, perhaps he will be cured by the reproof of his superiors. But if he dares to be thus disposed among the elders and the wiser, he is humanly incurable. He who does not submit himself in speaking will certainly not submit in acting. Such as he is in a small matter, such is he in all others, and he labors in vain, and brings upon himself from holy obedience nothing but grievous and deadly judgment. He who subjects himself in the most perfect way to the obedience of a religious father with a sincere and pure conscience, thereafter awaits death fearlessly as sleep, or rather as life, every day, certain that in the departure of life, the account will not be expected from him, but from his superior. He who receives an office of ministry from a religious Father in the Lord willingly, not by compulsion, if afterward he commits any sin or offends in that matter, the fault shall be attributed to the one receiving the arms, not to the one giving them. For he received a sword to fight against the enemy, which he fixed in his own breast. But if he is unwilling and has stated his own weakness beforehand, and has protested to his superior, yet receives the office for the Lord's sake, let him be of good spirit, for even if he has failed, he has not died. And I have forgotten to set before you, most beloved, this sweet bread of virtue. What I saw there among the religious, who exercise themselves in patience through affronts, so that being already practiced, they might not be cast down by ignominies offered by others. He who always turns over the confession of sins in his mind is restrained by it as if by a bridle from committing sin. For we freely admit things that are to be concealed as if they were to be buried in darkness. When, in the absence of the superior, we have imagined his person to be present with us in any conversation, word, meal, room, and sleep, or whatever other thing we think would be displeasing to him in us, and have taken care not to sin, then we shall consider ourselves to be genuine sons of obedience. For true and sincere disciples interpret the absence of their teacher as their own detriment: but spurious and froward ones rejoice that the preceptor is away. To me asking once from a certain most praiseworthy Father, in what way the virtue of obedience is joined with religious humility: A true, he says, obedient man—

even if he should raise the dead, even if he should possess the heavenly gift of tears, ^A even if he should be enjoying the greatest quietude of mind, will always ponder that this is the benefit of his spiritual father, and that all things are brought to pass by his prayers, and thus he will remain free and alienated from every swelling of vain estimation. For how will he be puffed up, who confesses that this was accomplished not by his own zeal and virtue, but by the assistance of another? This kind of effort at virtue the hesychast in the points already mentioned has not experienced; for opinion, to be sure, arrogantly attributes the praise of right acts to its own industry. When one who is effectively subjected to the command of obedience has conquered the twin snares of the enemy, or avoided his traps, he will remain from then on the sure and eternal servant of Christ, a son of obedience. The evil spirit strives ^B to pollute those who are disciples of obedience, now indeed by defiling them with foul bodily filth or humors, and attempts by this means to render them harsh and dour, and, contrary to their custom, to disturb them and shake them from the hinge of obedience; now, however, he tries to render them dry and sterile, and slow and drowsy at prayer, so that, with darkness shed upon their mind, they might think that they are reaping no fruit from the pursuit of obedience, but are even regressing in the stadium of virtue, so that he might utterly pull them away from the wrestling-ground of obedience. Nor does he give them room to ponder and recognize that, while the treasure of virtues which we appear to possess is being withdrawn from us by divine nod, the greatest occasion for submission is provided. But this veteran deceiver, whom we have mentioned, is often repulsed by many through long patience. ^C Then, while he is yet speaking, another architect of snares, an evil genius, is present, who a little later attempts to take us astray in another way. For I have observed others who had advanced from the discipline of obedience, through the care of their presiding father, to a prompt sense of mourning for sins, and were brought to an admirable mildness, continence, diligence, invincible constancy, and ardor of spirit: whom the insiduous demons strive to persuade that they are now fit for the solitude, through which they might be able to attain to the supreme degree of virtue and insensibility. But those unhappy ones, thus deluded, having been swept away from the faithful station of the religious harbor into the deep ocean of solitude, with the storm approaching, and deprived of the aid and assistance of their helmsmen, ^D perished in a miserable manner, swallowed by the waves of this polluted and salty sea; for it is necessary for the sea to be disturbed and to grow wild, so that the refuse which the rivers of the passions, and the grasses, and all rottenness have carried into it, might through these same things again be cast back onto the land; if we attend, we shall see that after the fierce squalls of the tempest a wonderful tranquility follows. He who obeys his religious father now, and now does not obey, does just as he who now applies eye-salve, and now quicklime, to his own eye: For one building, and one pulling down, what does it profit them, but trouble? Do not, my son, be deceived by the spirit of pride, and as if from another's person report your failings to the teacher. For it is not possible to be delivered from shame, without shame. Show your stripes to the physician; speak, and do not be ashamed. The wound is mine, Father; the blow is mine; it came from my own sloth, and not from another; no one is responsible for this—no man, no spirit, no body, nor anything else, but my own negligence. Become, both in appearance and in thought, as one condemned in your confession; to the earth

^A cast your eyes, and wash and cleanse the footprints of the judge and physician as though they were the feet of Christ, if you can draw any tears from yourself. It is the frequent habit of our enemies, the demons, either to induce us not to confess our sins, or to do so as if speaking for another person, or to blame others as the authors of our own faults.

If custom has such power and draws nature along with it, why should the same not be possible, and indeed much more so, in the exercise of virtues, ^B especially when God, the great helper, supports those who labor? You will not struggle for long, my son, to find blessed rest within yourself, if, at the very beginning of your religious life, you offer yourself with your whole heart to endure all insults and indignities. Do not disdain to make confession to God as to a helper with a humble disposition. For I have seen condemned men, with a most pitiable manner and through an extremely earnest confession and supplication, soften the severity of a judge and transform his wrath into compassion. This is why John the Forerunner required confession of sins from those coming to his baptism, not because he himself had need of it, but because he was working for the salvation of those who approached him.

Let us not be struck with dismay if, even after confession, we are still attacked; for it is better to struggle against the defilement of the body ^C than to wrestle with pride. Do not run to, nor listen with pride to the stories of the lives of anchorites and solitaries; for you are serving in the army of the protomartyr Stephen; and do not retreat from the stadium if you fall. For it is then, above all, that we have great need of a physician. He who trips on a stone with help is, if he were without that help, destined not merely to trip, but to perish. When we are brought low, the demons stand by promptly with pretexts for reasonable—or rather, unreasonable—regret, and suggest that we leave our solitude; but the goal of our enemies is to add a wound upon a fall. Whenever a physician declares that he lacks the power to help, ^D then it is necessary to go to another; for without a physician, few are cured. Who, then, would dare to contradict us when we claim that any ship, even if it has a skilled captain, would certainly be doomed to shipwreck if it were left without a navigator? From obedience is born humility, and from humility comes the absence of passions—that is, the perfect victory over self. If the Lord remembered us in our humility and redeemed us from our enemies, what is there to prevent us from saying that from obedience comes freedom from passion, through which the end of humility is attained? And the daughter completes the mother, just as Mary completed the synagogue. Those who are sick are worthy of every punishment before God if, even after the trial of a physician and the benefit received from him, they abandon him for another before their complete restoration. Do not flee from hands

^A of him who offered you to the Lord, for you shall not find another like him in your life. It is not safe for a soldier, inexperienced in the multitude of warriors, to separate himself for single combat, and it is not without danger for a monk, before experience and much exercise of the soul’s passions, to enter into stillness. It is natural for one to be in danger corporally, and the other psychically. “Two are better than one,” says Scripture; that is, it is good for a son, together with his father, through the operation of the divine Spirit, to contend against his predispositions. He who deprives the blind of a guide, the flock of a shepherd, the wanderer of a leader, the infant of its father, the sick of a physician, and a ship of its helmsman, creates danger for both. He who attempts, without help, to struggle against the spirits, is put to death by them. Those who arrive at the dispensary at the beginning should mark their own pains; those, however, who are under obedience, should mark the humility they possess. For to the former, the relief of their pains, and to the latter, the increase of self-reproach, is an unerring sign of health, as nothing else will appear. Let your conscience be ^B a mirror of your obedience, and it will suffice for you.

Those who are subject to a spiritual father in stillness have only the demons, with whom they struggle, as enemies. But those who exist in the company of brethren must struggle with demons and men alike. And indeed, the former, through the constant sight of their teacher, keep his commands more accurately. The latter, oftentimes, through his absence, slightly violate them. Yet if they are zealous and laborious, through the endurance of their stumbling they abundantly make up for the deficiency and obtain double crowns. With all vigilance let us guard ourselves. A harbor full of ships easily causes them to collide, especially if they have been eaten away by bile like a hidden worm. While we are under a religious superior, let us practice extreme silence and ignorance regarding him. For a silent man is a son of wisdom, always acquiring much knowledge. ^C I saw one subject who snatched the discourse from the mouth of the superior, and I despaired of his obedience, seeing that he used that submission for his own pride, rather than for subjection. Let us soberly and prudently note, and observe with all observation, and with the utmost vigilance discern when and how our duty of ministry must be set before our prayers. For it is not always and in every way

^A that we should strike them with your pseudo-simulated zeal, bringing pride upon yourself in every way. Be 67 fervent in soul, without in any way manifesting this in your body, whether by gesture, by word, or by riddle—and this, provided you have ceased from despising your neighbor. But if you are prone to this, become like your brothers, and do not be unlike them in conceit. I saw an unapproved disciple boasting to some men about the achievements of his master, and while he thought he was acquiring glory for himself from another's labor, he brought rather dishonor upon himself, 68 all saying to him: "And how did a good tree bear a fruitless branch?" It is not when we bear our father's mockery bravely that we are judged to be patient, but rather when we are despised and struck by every person; for we bear [with] our father both out of reverence and obligation. Drink willingly the mockery of every person as the water of life, as it seeks to water for you the purgative of lust; for then deep purity will arise in your soul, and the light of God will not cease from your heart. Let no one, seeing a gathering of brothers resting under him, boast in his mind. For thieves are roundabout. Remembering, remember him ^B who says: "When you have done all that is commanded you, say, 'We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we ought to have done.'" The judgment of our labors we shall know at the time of our departure.

A coenobium is an earthly heaven; therefore, as angels ministering to the Lord, let us persuade ourselves to dispose our heart. Sometimes those who are in this heaven are stony in heart; at other times, again, they are encouraged through compunction, so that they may escape conceit and comfort their labors through tears. A small fire has melted much wax, and a small dishonor that has frequently occurred has suddenly softened, sweetened, ^C and wiped away all the cruelty, callousness, and hardness of the heart. I once saw two sitting secretly together, watching the sighs and labors of those who were struggling, and listening; one, for the sake of following their example, and the other, so that, when the occasion presented itself, he might mock these things disparagingly and turn the worker of God away from his good work. Do not be a thoughtless 69 silent one, causing trouble and bitterness to others, nor a sluggish one in character, allowed to be zealous in footstep; if not, you have become worse than the demented and the turbulent. I have seen such things, as Job says, often because of a sluggish ^D character, but sometimes also because of the facility of souls—and I marveled at how complex evil is. One who is in the midst of it can profit not so much from psalmody as from prayer; for distraction is the dissolution of a psalm. Struggle continuously with thought, gathering it back to yourself when it wanders. For God does not require of his subjects a prayer that is unwandering; do not lose heart if you are robbed, but lose heart [if you cease] from calling back your mind.

^A Beware lest by a morose and importunate silence you disturb and exasperate others; when ordered to hasten, beware lest by acting sluggishly and too slowly, or by advancing tardily, you delay, for otherwise you will be worse than the furious and turbulent. I have seen such men, as Job says, at times simulating gravity of character, and at other times capturing the minds of men with a certain right-hand facility, and I have marveled at such variety in malice. He who lives among a choir of brothers makes progress not so much by the chanting of psalms as by prayers: for the confusion of voices in the psalms confuses the intellect. Strive as much as you can without ceasing, in your soul, to coerce your wandering mind and gather it to itself. ^B Moreover, God does not require of his disciples a prayer that is so attentive and withdrawn from all distraction. Therefore there is no cause for you to despair when your mind is, as it were, stolen away elsewhere; but keep a good spirit, calling your scattered thoughts back to your mind again. Only the angels are always present to themselves. He who has in his own mind the decree that he will struggle until his last breath (for his own salvation) and will not flee from a thousand deaths, both of body and of soul, will not easily fall into any of the faults mentioned above. Inconstancy of soul and changing of places always create such offenses and calamities. Those who migrate easily from place to place, from monastery to monastery, almost become infamous. For nothing brings about such sterility of spirit as impatience (that is, in remaining in the same place).

When you have fallen into an unknown apothecary and an unknown doctor, explore the habits of all who dwell there, like a guest who is just passing through. But when from the craftsmen and ministers you perceive a useful medicine for your illnesses, especially that which you were seeking against the elation and pride of your soul; then indeed draw near, and with the gold of humility, the contract of obedience, and the tablets of service, and with the angels as witnesses, sell yourself, and tear your instrument of personal whim and will to pieces for these things. By running around and nowhere settling, you have lost the price by which Christ redeemed you. Let the cloister of the monastery be for you like the monument of a tomb, from which no one emerges before the final judgment. But if any have gone out, recognize that they have perished. That this may not happen to us, the Lord must be entreated.

^C Slothful religious, when they feel that something heavier is being commanded of them, then pretend that they must pray. When the tasks are lighter, they flee from the study of prayer as from a fire. There is one who, summoned to work, dismisses the task he has undertaken to win the favor of another; there is one who does the same out of laziness; there is one who dismisses it out of a desire to capture vain glory; and there is one who yields to the office of his own accord. But if you have been carried off into a religious convent, and notice that it hinders the eyes of your soul, do not hesitate to separate yourself from it: for a good man is good everywhere, just as on the contrary, a wicked man is ^D nowhere good. Calumnies in public life produce withdrawals. In religion, gluttony routs all virtue and brings about contempt for religion. If you conquer this queen of vices, you will enjoy a tranquil peace of soul in every place; conquered by it, you will be in peril of your salvation until death. The Lord sharpens the eyes of the obedient to contemplate the virtues of a religious superior, and blinds them to seeing his vices. The enemy of virtue, however, is accustomed to do all things to the contrary. Let the model of perfect obedience be for us, my friends, quicksilver: for just as it rolls below...

and is immersed beneath all things, it nevertheless remains free from any concretion of filth. ^A Let those who are studious of virtue take heed, lest, while they judge the slothful, they be condemned more than they. On this account, I suppose, the patriarch Lot obtained the praise of justice, because, living in the midst of the wicked, he was never heard to condemn any one of them. We must always, but especially during our chanting, maintain a quiet and undisturbed state of mind; ^B for it is the aim of the demons to dissipate our prayer through distractions. He is the true minister of God who serves men with his body, but with his mind knocks at the doors of heaven through prayer. Insults, contempt, and scoldings, and other things of this kind, produce in the soul of the obedient the bitterness of wormwood; but praises, honors, and compliments infuse their souls—if they court such things—with the wondrous sweetness of honey. Let us then observe what the nature and power of each is. Wormwood purges all the filth of the bowels, while honey is accustomed to increase the bile. We must trust without anxiety those who have undertaken the care of our salvation in the Lord, even if they should sometimes seem to order things contrary to our salvation. For then, indeed, is our sincere trust in our superiors tested, as in a furnace of humility; for this is the most certain mark of the truest faith: that, seeing things happen contrary to our hopes, we nevertheless obey those who command us without hesitation. From obedience comes humility, as we have already said; from humility, spiritual prudence (which religious writers call discernment). ^C Regarding this, that distinguished Cassian has philosophized most beautifully and profoundly in his discourse on that very virtue. From discernment comes the faculty of inner vision, and from this, foresight. Who, therefore, would not willingly run in this noble course of obedience, seeing such treasures of good things prepared before him? Regarding this great virtue, that excellent Psalter said: "You have prepared in your goodness for the poor, obedient disciple, O God, your presence in his heart" (Ps. LXVII, 11). Never in all your life forget the memory of that great athlete who, for eighteen whole years, never heard the voice of his superior, whom he served, saying: "Be saved." Yet he heard it daily in the inner sense of his soul from the Lord—not, "Be saved," which is wishful and uncertain, but "you are saved," which is the language of one affirming what is certain and fixed. ^D Some have gone forth from the workshop of obedience who strongly deceive themselves; while they perceive the ease of their master and his willingness to gratify his subjects, they ask for permissions that suit their own wills. But when they have obtained them, let them know that they have completely fallen from the crown of their confession; for obedience is a renunciation of hypocrisy and one's own desires. There is one who, having received a command, and perceiving the aim of him who ordered it, refuses it, not gladly having the fulfillment of what was commanded—and there is one who perceives and obeys without question. We must seek which of them acted more piously. It is not among the things possible for the devil to have the

^A will to oppose himself. Let those who live in neglect, and those who persevere with patience in a cell or coenobium, be the proof of this. When we move from a place, we are tempted; this very thing is for us a sure sign of the divine will—that it pleases God that we remain at our station; for to be attacked is an indication that one must fight. For he who is under attack truly fights. Indeed, I would be base and inhuman if, through silence, I wished to conceal and withhold from the reader things which it is a sin to leave unsaid. John the Sabaite ^B, a man dear to me as few others are, related to me things most worthy of being heard. Moreover, you yourself, venerable prelate, have known by personal experience that man, who was free from all perturbations of the soul and a stranger to all vanity of speech. Thus, therefore, he began his narration to me.

There was, he said, in that coenobium in Asia where I dwelt (for from there this holy man had come), a certain monk among the elders, very negligent and of evil character: I bear witness to this for the sake of the truth, not in order to judge the man. He had acquired, I know not how, a disciple still a youth, whose name was Acacius, a simple boy in temperament, but in his mind by no means imprudent. He suffered from that gloomy, decrepit old man so many and such unworthy things that for many, perhaps, the matter might seem beyond belief. For he did not merely harass him with insults and contumelies, but daily maltreated him with beatings and blows. Yet Acacius bore it all prudently and patiently. When I saw him day after day being treated in the worst possible way, like a purchased slave, I would often approach him as we met and say, "What is it, brother Acacius? How are you today?" Then he would immediately show me now his bruised eyes, now his injured neck, or now his head battered by blows. But I, because I knew he was a true child of patience, would say, "It is well, it is well; endure, and you shall reap the fruit of patience." In this manner, when Acacius had passed nine whole years with that merciless old man, he departed for the Lord. After five days, his cruel master went to a certain elder of great name ^C who was there, and said to him, "Father, brother Acacius is dead." But the elder, upon hearing this, said, "Believe me, father, I do not believe he is dead." Then the master of Acacius said, "Come and see." The father rose immediately, and with him hastened to the cemetery of that noble and blessed champion. When he stood at the grave, the father shouted, addressing him as if he were alive (for in truth he was living in the rest of the saints): "Brother Acacius, are you dead?" But that noble disciple of obedience, showing obedience even after death ^D, answered the great man, "How, Father, is it possible for a man who is a worker of obedience to die?" Then the elder, who had formerly been his master, becoming filled with fear, fell upon his face with tears, and having asked the favor of the laura...

superior, ^A he lived in a cell adjacent to the tomb, and there he lived wisely henceforth, saying always to the Fathers, "I have committed homicide." It seems to me, Father John, that this great John is the one who spoke with the dead man. For his blessed soul also told me another thing as if it were about someone else; but it was himself, as I was able to learn accurately later.

He says that another monk in the same monastery of Asia was placed under the discipline of a certain mild, gentle, and quiet elder. And seeing himself being honored by the elder, [(89)] and looked down upon, he considers well—what is dangerous for many—and he persuades the elder to release him. For he had another disciple, and what was happening was not very distressing. He departs, therefore, from him, and by a letter of commendation from the superior, he establishes himself in one of the coenobia in Pontus. On the first night, ^B in which he entered the coenobium, he sees in his sleep himself being examined by some, and after the end of that most fearsome examination, he remains remaining in debt and owing one hundred pounds of gold. Having awakened, he judged the vision and said, "Humble Antiochus" (for this was his name), "we are truly in great debt." "As I remained," he says, "in the coenobium for three years in undistinguishing obedience, humiliated and afflicted by all as a stranger (for there was no other foreign monk there), I see again during sleep someone giving me a receipt for ten pounds of my debt." Having awakened, I understood the vision and said, "Only ten, and when then am I going to pay the rest?" Then I say to myself, ^C "Humble Antiochus, there is need of more labor and dishonor." From then on, therefore, I began to act the fool, though not entirely idle in my service. Seeing me in the same habit and zeal, the merciless Fathers imposed upon me all the heavy burdens of our monastery. Remaining in such a way of life for thirteen years, I saw those who had appeared to me before coming again, and writing for me a total release from the debt. Therefore, when they afflicted me, I was mindful of some part of my debt, and I endured bravely. These things the all-wise John, Father John, told me as if from the perspective of another; ^D and for this reason he also renamed himself Antiochus. This was he who truly tore up in pieces the hand-written account of debt through his patience, and he showed himself to be one who had acquired the virtue of discernment from his extreme obedience. Let us hear it.

While he was sitting in the monastery of Saint Sabas, three younger monks approached him, wishing to be trained by him; whom having received, he at once entertained...

^A them gladly, wishing to refresh them from the fatigues of their journey. After three days, however, the elder said to them: "By nature, brothers, I am a man prone to lust, and I am unable to receive any of you." But they were not scandalized, for they knew the work of the elder. Since, therefore, though they besought him much, they could not persuade him in the least, they cast themselves at his feet, pleading that they might at least be given a rule by him, as well as instructions on how and where they ought to settle. The elder, then, having yielded, and knowing that they would receive his words with true submission and obedience, says to one of them: ^B "The Lord wills, my child, that you settle in a hesychastic place, in obedience to a father." He says also to the second: "Go, sell your own will, and give [the price] to God; and take up your cross, and persevere in a community and coenobium of brothers; and you will surely have treasure in heaven." Then he says to the third: "Take up with your breath, inseparably, the word of Him who says: 'He who endures to the end, this one will be saved.' And go; if it is possible, do not leave your instructor in the Lord, even if he be more reproachful or severe than any other; and by persevering, daily drink mockery and derision like milk and honey." The brother says to the great John: "And if such a father, Father, through negligence does not fulfill his duty, what then?" And John says: "Even if you should see him committing fornication and incontinence, do not turn away from him, but say to yourself: 'Friend, why have you come here?' Then you will see your own vanity disappear and a burning lust wither away." ^C Let us all strive with every power, we who desire to fear the Lord, that we may not, in the gymnasium of virtue, rather acquire for ourselves wickedness and malice, cunning and craftiness, treachery and wrath. For it happens, and it is no wonder. As long as a man is a layman, or a sailor, or a tiller of the soil, the enemies of the King do not arm themselves so fiercely against him. But when they see him having taken the seal, and the shield, and the sword, and the saber, and the bow, and clad in the soldier's garb, then they themselves gnash their teeth against him, and in every way seek to destroy him. Therefore let us not slumber. I have viewed young boys, and those most beautiful and innocent, sent to a school for the sake of acquiring wisdom, and instruction, and profit, who nevertheless from the company of their peers brought back nothing thence but craftiness and wickedness. ^D He who has understanding will perceive it. It is impossible for those who are learning a craft with their whole soul not to make progress in it daily; but some recognize their progress, while others, due to their manner of living, do not know it. An excellent money-changer computes the profit or loss of the day every evening; but he cannot know it clearly unless he notes it hour by hour on a tablet. For the hourly accountings illuminate the daily life; when a foolish man, being reproached or condemned, is stung and attempts to contradict, or quickly gives repentance to the one rebuking him, not for the sake of humility, but to

^A shorten the rebuke. When you are being assailed with insults, be silent, and firmly endure the cauterization and burning of your soul; indeed, consider them even as torches and lights of purity. When the physician has ceased rebuking, then humbly sue for pardon and beg forgiveness for your fault; for in the heat of the burning, perhaps he will not admit your repentance.

^B For those living in communities, we must struggle at every moment against all things, but especially against two passions: against the insane craving of the belly and against bile, or irascibility. For the very abundance of those living together provides abundant material for these vices. To those under obedience, the devil puts the desire for virtues that are beyond their capacity, just as he also suggests inappropriate things to those in hesychia. Examine the mind of those who are under obedience and undiscerning, and you will find there ^C an erroneous notion, a desire for hesychia, for the strictest fasting, for unremitting prayer, for extreme vainglory, for constant remembrance of death, for continuous compunction, for total freedom from anger, for deep silence, and for surpassing purity. The deceiver made them skip ahead to these things in their beginnings, when they were in need, to lead them astray. For by asking for these things before the proper time, the enemy has brought them about, so that they might not endure to attain them in their own time. The deceiver praises among hesychasts the hospitality, service, brotherly love, common life, ^D and care for the sick of those under obedience, so that by this trickery he might also lead them to become impatient, just like the former ones. For it is truly rare to achieve success in the way of hesychia, and only those who have gained divine consolation to comfort them in their hardships and to assist them in their battles can do so.

Let us differentiate according to the qualities of our passions and our obediences, and let us choose them fittingly. Let your trainer, if you are uncontrollably inclined toward lechery, be an ascetic who is inflexible regarding food, rather than a miracle-worker, and who is ready to offer hospitality and a table to everyone. If you are haughty, let him be sharp and unyielding, not meek and kindly. Let us not seek out for ourselves prophets or seers, but, before all else, those who are strictly humble, and who are suited to the disease within us by their manner and their station. Let him be, for you, like the aforementioned righteous Habakkuk; and this way of obedience is also good: to always consider that your superior is testing you, and you will never miss the mark. When, as he rebukes you incessantly, you acquire greater faith and love for him, know that the Holy Spirit has invisibly dwelt in your soul, and the power of the Most High has overshadowed you. But do not boast, nor rejoice that you are bravely enduring insults and humiliations; rather, mourn that you have done something at all worthy of insult, and have troubled a soul against yourself. Be not 100 startled at what I am about to say: for I have as my advocate Moses...

to adjust our affairs and state and situation. May that holy and above-lauded Abbacyrus be to you a model ^A in the zeal of obedience, by constant meditation; your superior tests and explores your virtue, and you shall never stray from the goal. 90 If, while your president is constantly rebuking you, you put on greater faith and affection toward him, you may know that the Holy Spirit has fixed for Himself a seat in your soul, however invisible. Indeed, there is no reason for you to boast or be greatly proud if you endure insults and revilings bravely and with a noble spirit; rather, there is cause for you to grieve and lament, because you have shown yourself worthy of a just rebuke and have provoked the heart of your father against you. Nor is there reason for you to be struck and stunned at what I am about to say: for I have Moses as a supporter of this opinion. I say this: it is better to sin against God Himself than against our religious father and bishop. For our president can appease God when He is offended by us and reconcile Him to us; but if our religious father is offended, whom shall we have thereafter to render God propitious to us? Yet let both these thoughts converge into one opinion. Let us observe and discern, and let us be sober-minded and weigh the matter carefully. When rebuked by our moderator, for the present the reprehension must be endured with a grateful and patient mind and with silence; but at other times, an account of our action must be rendered. In my judgment, when we ourselves alone are treated insultingly, one must be entirely silent, for then is the time to gain profit. But when the insult redounds also to the harm of another, then the bond of mutual charity and indissoluble peace demands that we answer on behalf of the other. Whoever has leaped away from obedience, these will tell you its benefit. For then they knew in what heaven they were standing. ^B Anyone running toward dispassion and toward God, on any day in which he is not reviled, considers it a great loss; just as trees, shaken by the winds, strike deeper roots, so also those living under obedience possess strong and unshakable souls. Whoever, sitting in solitude, recognized his own weakness and, moving on, has embraced obedience—this man, who was blind, has without labor looked up to Christ. Stand, stand, and again I shall say, stand, you who are running, O brother athletes, hearing concerning you that wise man crying out: "As gold in a furnace," or rather, in the cenobium, the Lord ^C tested them, and as a whole burnt offering of sacrifice He accepted them into His bosom; to whom be glory and eternal power with the Father who is without beginning, and the Holy and adorable Spirit. Amen.

The degree of the four evangelists as to number. The athlete stands, running without fear. Once John outran Peter; but now obedience is placed before repentance. For the one, by running first, expressed the symbol of obedience, Peter, however, that of repentance.

SCHOLIA TO STEP IV

On Obedience

Scholion 1

^A to go forth to war and fight in single combat.

*Another, by Photius.* There are certain of the passions that lurk within us, a tyranny, and torments, and tortures, which differ in no way from external tyranny. He, therefore, who resists this kind of tyranny bravely and generously, and does not allow the free command and judgment of the mind to be damaged, contends in a race equal to the martyrs, and there is no doubt that an equal reward will be reserved for him.

*Scholion 2.* That is, they do not have their feet stuck as if with glue, but keep one ready for movement and the other immovable for prayer.

*Scholion 3.* Obedience is the subjection of a will existing in a person, not of that in which there is no will; for that which lacks reason can be said to be neither obedient nor disobedient.

*Another Scholion.* "If any man wishes to come after me, let him deny himself" (Matt. XVI, 24). But how does a man deny himself, unless he abandons his natural volitions and follows Christ? Therefore, ^B knowing this, he speaks about the goods of nature, not those which are contrary to nature. For if someone abandons those things which are contrary to nature, he has abandoned nothing of his own for the sake of God; for they are not his own. But he who abandons the goods of his own nature has denied himself.

*Scholion 4.* He is not speaking here of the danger to the soul, but of the body, which the obedient one may undergo by chance, whether sailing the sea or falling among robbers, and so die—a death which the true obedient one does not fear, since he knows very well that the danger ^C into which he has fallen will result in the crown of martyrdom for him, as he fulfills obedience without discernment.

*Scholion 5.* He refers to the head of the monastery. For he has taken upon himself the will of the obedient one, and has, as it were, put to death the subject's own will. He, therefore, shall give an account to God on behalf of the one who is obedient.

*Scholion 6.* The abdication of one's own judgment is to obey as if things were good, even if they appear bad, just as Abraham, when commanded to slaughter his son, ^D obtained from the beginning the simple obedience taught without discussion.

*Of Evagrius, 7.* Virtues and vices both render the mind blind: the former, so that it may not look upon vices; the latter, so that it may not recognize virtues.

*Scholion 8.* The stadium of the struggle and of progress is a prosperous way, a constant exercise, and a meditation on the commandments of the Lord, as is the dwelling of brothers in one place.

*Scholion 9.* He who does not follow his own way of living, but

^A rather repudiates it, is obedient, and fashions himself to the promptings of his religious master; he is already in the state of the perfect, even if he has not yet progressed through the works of perfection. For when the wicked demon is accustomed to harass those who are in obedience, and to disparage their labor, as if they were neither practicing fasting nor strict asceticism, nor intent on prayer, nor able to provide those other things that befit anchorites and solitaries, then the Father says that all these things are nothing when compared with true obedience. For it compensates for their absence, and before the obedient one has even passed through them, it causes him to dwell in their midst. *Scholion 10.* Every judgment of one's own will is dangerous, a fact which David (the prophet) did not ignore when he said: *I have sworn and established it, to observe the judgments of Your righteousness,* not my own desires. *Another.* To uproot one's own will, that is, for a person in good matters to cut away his own will and perform that of the saints; but in evil matters, to flee from what is improper by his own accord. *Scholion 11.* Flee from the company of one who lives carelessly, however great a name for virtue he may possess among many. *Scholion 12.* ^B Before the renunciation of the world, one must carefully explore the character of the religious teacher; after the renunciation, no longer. For he who explores, judges; and he who judges, devalues, and then also disobeys. *Another Scholion 13.* The religious life is called a stadium. But he who judges and explores his own religious superior certainly also judges him in certain matters; and he who judges, either disobeys, or does not perform what is commanded with the due faith. But those who do not faithfully perform what is prescribed, sin. *Another.* Not only those who face death for the sake of the name of Christ are martyrs; but those also who die for the sake of observing His laws. *Scholion 14.* ^C We must inquire how it is that without subjection no one shall see God. For what of this? Does Mary of Egypt and certain others, who were never subject to any man, not see the Lord? We affirm, therefore, that Climacus is speaking not only of the subjection of the body, but also of the subjection of the soul. We find, therefore, none of the saints who did not subject the body to the spirit; so that it is clear that unless one possesses this (obedience) together with the subjection of the body, one shall not see the Lord. For many who are subject to their parents have derived no fruit from such subjection, because they have subjected their soul to the servitude of pleasures. ^D *Scholion 15.* The humble man does not consider himself to be perfectly subject;

but whoever does anything by his own will, even if he seems to be subject, he nonetheless bears the burden himself. ^A

*Scholion 16.* Climacus makes the fault and the fall common both to the disciple and to his religious moderator, due to a deficiency of spirit and lack of knowledge, teaching that the religious superior, on account of his inexperience or lack of spirit, is liable to punishment.

*Another.* Whoever passes over the faults of his subjects in silence, will be condemned just as if he had committed them himself.

*Scholion 17.* A subject of good mind does not take to himself time and leisure in which to inquire into the life and manners of his religious father, since he is not ignorant that wicked demons distract the mind through judgments and suspicions, lest the subject proceed along the simple and straight path of obedience, but rather that he turn aside into crooked ways and not perform his duties rightly. ^B

*Scholion 18.* After the week, and not within the seven days; because his whole life in the flesh, having passed through the seven, has arrived at the change of another life, receiving the reward according to the merits of what has already been done; and before the shame of the eighth—that is, the world to come—he undergoes shame in the present life, and remains henceforth unashamed.

*Another.* On the seven ages of man. An infant is from birth until four years; a boy from five years until fourteen; an adolescent from fifteen years until twenty-two; a youth from twenty-three until forty-five; a man from forty-five until fifty-six; an old man from fifty-seven until sixty-six; a very old man from sixty-seven until the end of his life. ^C

*Scholion Basilii 19.* A novice must be examined, even if he is caught in sins, that he may, with harmful shame set aside, freely set forth his hidden disgraces, and become his own accuser, at once shaming and renouncing the partners of his evil works, according to him who said: "Depart from me, all you who work iniquity" (Matt. VII, 23), and may gain for himself security for the rest of his life, so as no longer to fall into similar passions.

The question of the great Basil. How may one acquire hatred toward sins?

*Response 20.* From the bitter and sad effect, hatred is born toward those who have provided the causes of such evils. When, therefore, one has clearly perceived how many and how great are the evils of which these are the cause, ^D of his own accord

^A and with his whole soul he conceives a hatred against them, just as he showed who said: "I have hated and abhorred iniquity" (Ps. CXVII, 163).

Isaac Scholion 21

Scholion 22

Another

Interrogation of Basil the Great

Response 23

Interrogation of the same

Response

Interrogation of the same

Response

sees another being torn apart and slandered, and keeps silent. And he who does not rebuke with boldness, he too detracted, since that which he speaks has no substance. And he who composes a lie from his own self produces idle talk, since he narrated what was not done or seen. And he who teaches to do good, but does not do it himself, is an idle talker. ^A

Of the Great Basil, 24: Concerning not hiding the sins of brothers or one's own.

Every sin must be referred to the superior, either by the one who has sinned or by those who are aware of it, if they cannot themselves heal it, according to that which was commanded by the Lord. For a vice kept in silence is a hidden ulcer in the soul. Just as, therefore, we would by no means call him a benefactor who keeps the lethal things shut up within the body, but rather him who with pain and cutting brings them to the light, so that either through vomiting he might cast off the harmful thing, or in general, through the manifestation of the passion, the method of healing might become clearly known. Thus it is evident that even to hide a sin is to cooperate with the sick person in his death; for the sting of death is sin, he says. Reproofs ^B with boldness are better than hidden friendship. Let no one, therefore, conceal the sin of another, lest he become a fratricide instead of a brother, nor let him do so for his own sins. For he who does not heal himself, he says, in his works, is a brother to him who destroys himself.

Scholion 25

Here, indeed, this very great Father and custom assign this word to a sense of blame. For the audacious and untrained, and the bold and arrogant, and those puffed up and lifted up, they call *agerochous* (haughty). But Homer ^C and some of the wise say that the highly honored are *agerochous*, from the fact that they are exceedingly carried to honor (*geras*). Some of the glossographers teach that islanders were strictly called *agerochous* because they used *echein* (brought-in) food, from *ageirein* (to gather) *eche*—that is, to gather food; for *eche* is called food by most of the wise, from the fact that it sustains and keeps the animal alive. ^D

Basil the Great, 26

The name of "crafty" signifies two things: and the one [who], while using his mind for the harm of others, is wicked; but the praiseworthy crafty one is he who sharply and prudently finds his own good, and avoids the injuries plotted against him by others through their deceits and treacheries.

^A

Mark 27. He who chooses hardships and ignominy for the sake of defending the truth walks the apostolic path, bearing the cross and clothed with the chain. But he who is outside these two, and tries to follow his own heart, is deceived in his mind and falls into temptation and the snare of the devil.

Maximus 28. Whoever has resolved to live with religious brothers, renounce your own will at the very threshold and entrance; for in no other way will you be able to have peace, either with God or with those living with you.

Diadochus 29. It is well known that obedience is the prince of all the virtues that pave the way to a religious life; for it represses all pride and removes overestimation of self, while begetting humility: whence it also opens a passage to the love of God for those who readily embrace it. When Adam cast this off, he cast himself headlong into the lowest tartarus. The Lord, because He desired this, in accordance with the rationale of the economy, was obedient to His Father even to the cross and death. Therefore, this must be the first and chief concern for those who undertake the struggle against the spirit of pride of the devil; for as this advances, it will point out to us all the paths of virtue without any error.

Scholion 30. The Father honors and observes the legal period of seven years, when, having finished it, he releases Isidore from the state of penance, by which he shows that it is the lot of all mortals to pass through the life in this world with labor and pain, until, having finished with these present things, they arrive at the rest of the other life. ^{B C}

Thalassius (a) 31. The best discipline or study for men is to unlearn evil.

Mark 32. He who wishes to remove and extinguish future hardships and labors must willingly and gladly endure those that are present; for thus, by wisely connecting one thing with another, he will ward off great afflictions through small pains.

Isaac. A small affliction undertaken or endured for God is better than a great work done without affliction. For voluntary affliction brings forth the proof of faith and love; but the work of rest is born, as it were, from a fullness or satiety of conscience. Therefore, the saints were tested in afflictions for the sake of the love of Christ, and not in ease; for work done without labor is the righteousness of worldly people, who bestow alms from external goods, and do not make any gain within themselves. ^D

^A Scholion 53. Whoever accepts and endures impending evils in the hope of future goods finds the knowledge of truth, and will easily be delivered from anger and sadness.

Isaac, scholion 34. Religious combatants are tested that they may increase their wealth; the proud, that they may guard themselves from harmful things; the sluggish, so that they may be roused to vigilance; those who are further away, that they may draw closer to God; and those who are domestic and familiar, that they may be admitted to a greater familiarity with God.

Scholion 35. Observe how humility is not rashly compared with better and more perfect people; but when it is perfected in those who have already laid its foundation, then it appears more admirable.

Scholion of Mark 36. Whoever, where one ought not, yields to a subordinate who contradicts him, by doing so deceives him and causes the laws of obedience to be despised.

Scholion 37. The Lord crowns not only those who have been killed by the sword and have suffered martyrdom at the hands of tyrants, but also those who have achieved excellence in asceticism or in love. For just as those endured tortures for the sake of the Lord, so also these have endured for the same Lord all the hardships of life and the labors of the religious life.

From Mark, scholion 38. He who mixes his own will into obedience is an adulterer, as the wise man teaches, and because of his lack of understanding, he endures pains and ignominies.

Another, of John, bishop of the Carpathians. Never listen to your subordinate when he says to you: "Give me power [liberty of will] for a time, to test virtue or this or that matter, and so I will act rightly." For he who speaks in this way is clearly following his own will, and is violating the principles of the best obedience, and making the covenants of subjection of no effect.

Chrysologos' scholion 39. Affliction does not harm you, ^D but produces patience. For just as a furnace does not harm gold, so affliction does not corrupt a noble soul.

Maximus 40. There are three orders: angels, men, and demons. That they do not fall belongs to the angels, not by nature, but by choice; for they are not by nature immutable or immovable toward evil, for not even Satan would have fallen if he had been unable by nature to fall. But they are naturally hard to incline toward the opposite, as Gregory the Theologian testifies. Therefore, they do not sin, or refrain from sinning, by the nature of the thing, but by the quality of the will to choose freely, which choice the demons have hardened in evil, and for this reason have become unchangeable in

apostasy from God and in their defection. Men, however, are better than them because of their mutation or conversion; but angels surpass both, because they can never again be turned away from the good.

^A Scholion 41. Understand this as the care of animals lacking reason. But the fault was not beyond reason, nor did he who testified to great Anthony that he was almost overcome by onagers (demons) heal lasciviousness by laughing. What then does he mean when he says "the end of the action," or "that he ate something secretly"? Because he had eaten from those things which the beasts were carrying. If they were herds that he was milking, he tasted the milk, or something of this kind (that is, cheese, butter, or whey).

Evagrius 42. With the anchorites or solitary ones, demons wrestle openly. But among those in coenobia and communities who are exerting themselves toward virtue, they arm the more negligent of the brothers. The latter war is much lighter than the former; for it is not possible to find on earth men more cruel than demons, ^B who surpass the malice of all men, even if men exhibit every wickedness simultaneously.

Another scholion. He who, when injured by men, prays for them, binds the demons; he who resists men is wounded by the demons.

Another. The guilt of men is less than that of demons; but he who strives to please the Lord has conquered both.

^C Scholion follows which is scraped from the beginning and cannot be read, wherefore I omit it entirely. There are two or three verses.

43.

Scholion 44. The student of truth receives a twofold benefit: regarding good works, he is encouraged and becomes more eager to practice the same; regarding evils, when rebuked, he is compelled to amend and to perform penance.

102 Another. According to the measure of one's progress, life must be ordered; and according to the measure of one's life, prayers must be offered to God.

Scholion 45. In elegance, if you look at the phrasing or the elocution; ^D useless, if you look at worldly lot and happiness; as thorns, if you look at the harsh and sad narration as it appears.

Scholion 46. He knew that he who connives with the sinner endures the judgment and condemnation no less than he who himself sinned.

Another from Mark. What is in the magistrate, it behooves him to [say] to the subject

^A whose duty it is to explain itself: to him who refuses to obey, let him proclaim the imminent punishments of future evils, and warn of them beforehand.

Another. When damage to one person extends to many, then it is not proper to delay and bear it patiently, nor to seek one's own advantage, but that of the many, so that they may be saved. For the virtue that benefits many is more useful and to be preferred than a solitary one.

Scholion 47. The thoughts of a good man meditate on wisdom, and his words illuminate those who hear.

Another. When virtues are subject to the soul, the soul revolves good thoughts; when vices are dominant in it, it brings forth evil thoughts of the same kind.

Scholion 48. There are three things through which thoughts exist in the soul: sense, memory, and the constitution of the body; but those which come from memory are more burdensome.

Another from Photius. To open one’s own faults voluntarily to spiritual fathers ^B is a sign of a correction of life; but to hide them is a sign of a soul that is subject to the passions. For no one who runs with thieves and places his lot with adulterers ever casts these out. For it is driven into vice by too intense an affection of the senses. He who is already in a tranquil state of mind, when he speaks of a brother’s sin, does so for two reasons: either that he may correct him, or that he may benefit another. If he speaks for reasons other than these, whether it be to himself or to another, in a tone of reproach ^C or slander, he shall not escape the divine abandonment; but he will surely fall into that same or another fault, and having been reproached, he will be put to shame.

Chrysologus’ Scholion 49. Bind the one who has sinned, so that he may propitiate God for himself; do not leave him loosed, lest he be bound more tightly by the wrath of God. If I bind him, God will not bind him; if I do not bind him, indissoluble bonds await him. For if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged (I Cor. xi, 31). Let no one interpret this as cruelty or inhumanity, but let him receive it as supreme gentleness and ^D the best cure and medicine. But, he says, they have given sufficient time for punishment. How much, I ask you? A year, or two, or three years? I do not seek this, nor do I care for time, but for the amendment of the soul. Show me this: have those who have sinned felt compunction? Have they changed their ways? And we will have achieved the goal; for if this is not done, time is of no use. For we do not ask how many times or whether the wound has been bound up often, but whether the bandages have accomplished anything. If that care has been effective within a short time, and the wound has healed, there is nothing that need be added further. If it has been of no use even after fifteen years, let the cure not cease. Finally, let this be the limit of the release: the health and the advantage of the one bound.

^A

Scholion 50

Scholion 51

Scholion 52

Scholion 53

Scholion 54

Another

Maximi 56

^A

*Another.* He who truly is wise, and who both teaches and is taught, has this as his only intention: that he may be taught useful things and may teach them in turn. But he who is wise in his own conceit—both when asking and when being asked—brings forward and proposes only things that are excessively curious and irrelevant.

*Isaaci 57.* To defend and champion oneself is not from the discipline of Christians, nor is it observed or noted in the doctrine of Christ.

*Another.* Contradiction reveals one who is obstinate, unruly, and least of all submissive; indeed, it is a certain proof of a puffed-up spirit that contemns everything, but it is not at all a proof of humility or of obedience in all things. ^B

*Another.* He who contradicts his superiors is incurable.

*Scholion 58.* Distinguish one fall from another; there is a difference between the care of ministry and a fall. Take care, therefore, not to understand here the fall that separates one who falls from God, but rather that which pertains only to the care of one’s ministry.

*Two deceits.* Disobedience and self-conceit (or pride).

*Scholion 59.* He moves him violently; he has said this drawn from the metaphor of a mill-lever. For just as a lever violently moves a millstone that is fixed and immovable, even against its will, so too the devil, wishing to be a violent lever, compels the person under obedience—who has the nature of a stone, that is, an unmoved constancy—so that he is drawn and impelled toward evil even against his will (or rather, one who cannot be impelled even against his will), as follows. ^C

*Scholion 60.* See how he praises and commends good habits that are confirmed by time, confirming that they are no longer subject to any fall.

*Another.* This is no light struggle, to overcome your own habit; for a habit fortified by a long period of time, for the most part, takes on the force of nature.

*Gregorii Theologi 61.* Do not refuse to open and declare your sin, knowing that John baptized; for this itself is a part of the punishment. And Wisdom teaches: *He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth his sins shall obtain mercy from God* (Prov. XXVIII, 13). ^D

*Basilii Magni 62.* Just as the members of the body, joined together by the bond of nature, cannot be torn from the body—or if they are torn away, that which is torn away will become dead—so the religious ascete, for as long as he is joined to the body of the other brothers, has no power to separate himself from those to whom he is attached and inserted; and he who does this is dead in his soul and deprived of the

^A magisterium of his leader, as one who has violated his covenant. Let such a one, therefore, be condemned by the Truth Itself judging, as one who has provided a source of scandal to many; for it is better for him that a millstone be hung about his neck and he be plunged into the depth of the sea. For when a soul has become accustomed to apostasy, it is filled with every kind of intemperance.

*Scholion 63.* Obedience is the beginning of humility. For unless a man judges himself to be devoid of all virtue, he cannot be ruled by the hand of another. When, therefore, the condemnation of oneself confines the soul within its own boundaries, it leads it to obedience; and obedience, being struck by the fear of the Lord, brings forth the love of God and humility; while perfect humility banishes all arrogance and self-esteem. He who is purged ^B of this and other such vices becomes, as is fitting, a dwelling for true tranquility.

*Another.* Obedience through humility is both the beginning and the end; obedience is the beginning and the end of humility. The offspring of humility is the tranquility of the soul, which perfects its own mother, and thus makes for perfect humility.

*Another.* The humble and obedient man does not serve the vice of arrogance or of his own self-esteem. He who is free from such vices and disturbances of mind is evidently one who fully enjoys the tranquility of the soul. But he who is tranquil in soul is entirely gentle and mild, so that obedience, through humility, even produces the tranquility of the soul. ^C

*Scholion 64.* The source and parent of tranquility of soul is obedience through humility, from which is born the tranquility of the soul, which perfects the parent, so that it renders humility perfect.

*Scholion 65.* As in a mirror, he says, contemplate yourself in your conscience, and investigate your thoughts. And if your conscience does not accuse you in any matter, but testifies to you that you are perfectly obedient and submissive in all things without hesitation, there is no reason for you to seek a more certain ^D and better witness.

*Scholion 66.* Abbas Zosimas used to say: "We mortals do not know how to be loved or honored, but we have lost our prudence. A man will endure his brother a little, when he is angry or pressed by him, he who shortly after returns to himself, and having recognized that the other has patiently endured him, lays down his very soul for the one who practiced patience."

*Scholion 67.* He refers to those who live together in a religious family.

Matth. xviii, 6.

If, he says, you are not quick to blame and despise others, practice virtue by yourself and in your mind, without showing any sign of this; but if you are inclined toward judging others, do not assume in your soul any labor greater than that of others, but remain equal to the rest in all things. He calls the labor of the soul constant prayer and mourning and weeping, and other things of this kind. If, therefore, he says, through these things you fall into pride, leave them aside. ^A

*Scholion 68.* Let us not rely upon the accomplishments of others; but even if you have a father worthy of admiration, do not think that this suffices for your salvation, or for honor and glory, unless you become like him in character. Just as, therefore, if you have a base father, do not think on that account that you are to be condemned, if only you direct your own life toward honesty and virtue. ^B

*Scholion 69.* The Father rebukes untimely silence and corrects the slothfulness of character; for the one is a proof of pride, especially when one is gathered with the multitude; and the other renders one sluggish and slow in spiritual labors and in difficult tasks. For some believe that by maintaining their own irrational [habit], they are keeping order; but such order will not be appropriate for an obedient man, if he is a true obedient one. The opposite of these displays the watchfulness of the mind and brotherly love. ^C

*Scholion 70.* Slothfulness and convenience know how to nourish the desire to please men, to which the mob also runs, interpreting the hardened look of the face and the sluggish character as humility. Those who are puffed up and elated by their concurrence are stung by pride. Having discerned this, the Father most wisely defined wickedness as being complex and by no means simple and sincere. ^D

*Scholion 71.* Sin is the death of the soul; even if one should sin in some matters, he says, let him repent again, and never withdraw from the monastery; for he also said previously that one who falls in the arena must not withdraw from the place of contest.

*Scholion 72.* A steadfast and immovable mind produces patience toward [remaining in] places and communities; but hesitation produces faithlessness and falling away, and knows how to cause transitions of both shepherds and flocks (that is, of coenobiarchs and monasteries).

Syncletica 73

Scholion 74

Scholion 75

Syncletica 76

Scholion 77

Scholion 78

Another

Scholion 79

Another

Carpathius’ Scholion 80

Syncletica’s Scholion 81

they strongly harm the athletes of Christ by their deeds and evil habits, and work them injury.

^A Scholion 82. He performs the office of a deacon who anoints the mind for the holy struggles and drives away the passionate thoughts from it; and that of a priest, he who illuminates the mind with the knowledge of things and extinguishes false knowledge; and finally that of a bishop, he who perfects and consecrates with the holy oil of knowledge, by which the holy and adorable Trinity is known.

Scholion 83. It seems, although somewhat obscurely, that he is speaking of a certain obedient and religious brother, from whom he had learned this by experience; therefore he addresses him as one who is aware of it, when he says: "Do not forget that one," etc. This man, therefore, after having ministered to his elder for many years, never heard from him in the manner of a prayer or a greeting the word, "May you be saved" (or "Hail"), but he heard it from God in his soul: "Behold, you are saved." Therefore, because of his obedience, he says: although he did not hear the prayer from his master, he was nonetheless assured by God. For as much as his director cast him off, by so much did God inwardly make him sure of his salvation.

^B Scholion 84. He brings forward two persons to whom something was commanded through obedience, of whom the one, judging that the commanded business would not be pleasing to the one commanding (if it were done as it was commanded), but because it tended toward a certain contrary end, he neglected to do that; but the other, although he likewise knew this, nonetheless obeyed and did it. Which one, then (says Climacus), of these two did better? We answer that each is to be praised according to the nature of the time and the occasion. For the religious novice will do better by obeying simply without hesitation; for he is still in his training, to be proved among the novices. But the other, when for a long time he has already duly proven his obedience to his superiors in other matters, will act rightly and orderlily if he does not obey, and will ^C better show obedience by not obeying. For he will no longer—like a slave [observing] the sound of the word and the syllables of the one commanding—but as a genuine son and friend of obedience, will execute the will of the father by looking to his intention.

Scholion 85. For if they who are struggling are, while being afflicted, also afflictors in turn, and the demons indeed attack us, then surely they who afflict us are in turn afflicted by us: "I will afflict them," he says, "and they shall not be able to stand." And again: "They that afflict me, mine enemies, they themselves were weakened and fell."

Scholion 86. Some interpret the phrase "to live intemperately" only as referring to lust, and call a "profligate" a fornicator. ^D Climacus, however, applies these terms to every inconsiderate thought, and to one who does not restrain the movements of the soul that are lacking in reason, lest they break out into action. For this elder was carried away by a blind impulse of the mind against his own reason. And what follows declares this.

Scholion 87. I am setting forth the truth, he says, and I do not condemn the man. Not by way of ratiocination, he says, by condemning him do I say this, but I am showing the manifest impulse of the soul born of perturbation, and I propose it to be seen by all before their eyes. ^A

Scholion 88. Rightly was it said "before the president," because he was no longer, he says, his president. For a moderator of another strives to stir his client to an emulation of his own virtues, since everyone is judged by his own deeds. For this (the old man who was over the youth) was a slave to anger, but the disciple was master of his anger. How then would he be shown to be the president of one who surpasses him so greatly in all virtues? ^B

Scholion 89. Those who are despised are not honored: how then does he speak of one as both despised and honored? Honored in body, but despised in spirit; for every delicate and soft person shrinks from harshness and a morose nature.

Another. That is to say, despised in those things which he had hoped to obtain in vain, and not fittingly reproved by his president for these things.

Scholion of Mark the Hermit 90. Man suggests counsel to his neighbor, as he knows how; but God works in the one who hears, as he believes.

Another of Saint Dorotheus. The saints call those "children" whom they have converted and transformed from vice unto virtue by their word, as the Apostle says: "My little children, of whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you" (Gal. iv, 19). ^C

Scholion 91. He calls "cross" the patience of incoming tribulations: for the cross of Christ is abstinence from every vicious affection.

Scholion 92. The Climacus proposes "indiscriminate," and "guileless," and "innocent" obedience and subjection to a brother.

Scholion 93. By "seal," he means either baptism or repentance, which washes away all the stains of the soul; by "shield," the flight from the world, which is acquired by divesting oneself of all affection for it; by "sword," faith or confidence toward one's shepherd; by "romphaea," the denial of one's own wills; by "bow" or "dart," prayers, by which the demons are struck down; and by "military garment," the clothing of virtues. ^D

Scholion 94. He who daily demands of himself the accounts of his life, and judges himself, and lives a life of vigilance; he is the best money-changer and curator of his own actions.

^A Scholion 95. He who makes provision for the flesh unto desire, and due to occasion keeps a memory of wrongs against his neighbor, such a one worships and serves the creature instead of the Creator.

Scholion 96. Pious reading, vigils, prayers, and the chanting of psalms recall and steady the mind when it strays into passions and vices.

Syncletica 97. We who live in cenobitic communities prefer obedience over all other religious exercises (such as fasts, vigils, or bodily labors); for the latter teach pride, whereas the former proclaims humility.

Aliud. A mind is not deceived, however, when it performs these things at the proper time and in the proper way—that is, for the sake of the good and honest itself, or for the love and inclination toward it—with the precision and counsel of those who have had experience of such things. For then, in all these matters, it turns away from self-complacency as deceptive and spurious.

^B Scholion 98. It is excellent to persevere with an accurate and strict master of life until death, and not to seek one who is indulgent and lax.

Aliud. It is full of danger and ruinous for religious novices when they choose a guide for their life according to their own will; for such ones are led astray and walk through crags and chasms and places of present destruction.

Ex Isidoro Pelusiota 99. Religious discipline, O friend, is the imitation and receptacle of all the Lord’s commandments; for it abhors all anger, wickedness, pride, avarice, and self-love; it cultivates obedience, serves all, is altogether estranged from the body, and belongs to the spirit alone. It has a tongue ready for thanksgiving, useful for prayer, unmoved toward reviling; it does all things with compliance and at the nod of the master whom time, labor, and the divine vote have placed at the helm of guidance, so that he may both know and avoid the whirlwinds of the spirits.

^C Scholion 100. For when the Israelites sinned against God by making the calf, and were condemned by God to utter destruction and slaughter, Moses stood for them and cried out to God, ^D saying: "If You will forgive them their sin, forgive; but if not, blot me out of the book which You have written" (Exod. xxxii, 32). They found God immediately propitious through Moses, and escaped the punishment. But when

^A Dathan and Abiron, and Mary, the sister of Moses, transgressed against Moses, they underwent punishment without any delay.

Another from Saint Maximus. Do not accept slander against your religious father, nor show yourself a friend and benevolent toward his slanderer, lest the Deity be angered at your deeds and cut you off from the land of the living.

Another Scholion. He who digs a pit for his neighbor shall fall into it, and he who sets a snare for his teacher is impious and lawless; hence, such a one shall also share the judgment of ^B him who delivered his benefactor and teacher into the hands of the lawless.

STEP V. On careful and sincere penitence, in which the life and deeds of holy convict-penitents are declared; and on the prison

Penitence is the recall of baptism. Penitence is a covenant with God for a second life, for amending the former and instituting a better one. Penitence is the procuratrix of humility. Penitence is the perpetual renunciation of all bodily joys. Penitence is a judge of oneself, and a secure care for oneself. Penitence is the daughter of hope, and the abnegation of despair. A penitent is a convict free from all infamy. Penitence is reconciliation with God through the practice of good works contrary to one's sins. Penitence is the purification of the conscience. Penitence is the voluntary endurance of all afflictions. A penitent is the (very best) craftsman of his own chastisement. Penitence is a grave torment of the belly, and a rebuke of the soul in a keen sense of theft.

Come together, draw near, attend, hear. I will explain to you, as many as have provoked God to wrath, gather the assembly, see how great things God has shown to my soul for the example and salvation of others. Moreover, let us place the narration of the abject, ignominious, and contemptible—but in all respects to be honored as laborers of ^C Christ—before all others, and for the sake of honor let us place them in the first rank. Let us hear, let us observe, and let us imitate, whoever of us has fallen through the filth of sin. Rise up and stand firm, you who lie collapsed through sin. Attend, my brothers, to these words of mine; incline your ear, you who wish to reconcile God to yourselves through the amendment of life.

When I, a weak man, had learned that there was a certain rare and unusual and most abject way of life of certain ones who dwell in a private and separate place which they call the prison; which is nevertheless subject to that other [monastery] which I praised above, that most holy star of stars, and ^D while I was still there, I entreated the righteous one to permit me to go there; and indeed the great one yielded, wishing not to grieve any soul at all. Having arrived, therefore, at the monastery of the penitents, and indeed a place of those who truly mourn, I have truly seen, if it be not bold to say,

^A things which the eye of a slothful man has not seen, and which the ear of a man who is slack does not receive, and which have not entered into the heart of a sluggish man: deeds and words capable of forcing God, and practices and postures that quickly bend His philanthropy.

I saw some of those who were thus responsible, standing through the whole night until morning in the open air, with feet motionless, and being pitiably shaken by sleep ^B and struggling against the force of this nature, and granting themselves no rest at all; but rather reproaching themselves, and stirring themselves up with insults and blows. I saw others gazing toward heaven, and calling for help from above with lamentations and cries. I saw others standing in prayer, having bound their hands behind their backs in the manner of condemned criminals, and bowing their darkened faces to the earth, and condemning themselves as unworthy to look up to heaven, possessing not even the power to speak, or to utter a sound, or to pray to God, being burdened by the shame of their thoughts and their conscience; finding neither how nor whence to make their supplication, they presented to God only a speechless soul and an empty mind, filled with darkness and mere despair. Others were sitting on the ground on sackcloth and ashes, covering their faces with their knees, and striking their foreheads against the earth. Others were beating their breasts continuously and calling back their own souls and lives.

Some among them bedewed the floor with tears; others, lacking tears, beat themselves ^C (a). Some wailed as if over their own souls, not having the strength to bear the constant constriction of the heart; others growled silently in their hearts and restrained the sound of the lamentation with their mouths. Yet there were times when, no longer able to control themselves, they would suddenly cry out.

I saw there some who were, as it were, beside themselves, darkened in their character and deep in thought, having become in their great despondency as if void of sensation toward all things, having from now on plunged their minds into the abyss of humility, and having fried away the tears of their eyes with the fire of despondency. Others were sitting, pensive, bowed to the earth, and incessantly shaking their heads, and roaring and groaning like lions, and gnashing with their teeth from ^D their inward parts. Some among them were hopefully seeking and praying for complete forgiveness; others, out of an inexpressible humility, condemned themselves as unworthy of forgiveness, and cried out that they were unable to plead their case to God. Some begged the Lord to be punished here so as to find mercy there; others, crushed by the weight of their own conscience,

Gradus V

^A in deep humility judged themselves unworthy of pardon, loudly declaring that they could not respond to God for their transgressions. Some begged that they might endure punishment here so that they might obtain grace and mercy there. Others, simultaneously weighed down by the burden of their conscience, deprecated eternal punishments, yet sincerely proclaimed themselves unworthy of heaven; "provided that this be done," they said, "it is enough for us." I saw there souls humble, contrite, and weighed down by the burden of their load, who could move the very stones to a sense of compassion by their words, their vociferations, and their prayers poured out to God. ^B Indeed, with their heads bowed and prone to the ground, they kept saying: "Yes, indeed, we do not ignore it, but we know clearly that we are worthy of every penalty and punishment henceforth, and indeed deservedly so. For we cannot, because of the number and multitude of our sins, make satisfaction, even if the whole world were called to lament with us. This one thing we ask, this we deprecate, this one thing we beseech: *Do not rebuke us in your fury, nor discipline us in your wrath* (Ps. vi, 2), but discipline us with mercy. For it is enough for us, if we are delivered from your most grave threat and from inexplicable and hidden punishments. As for having every single penalty remitted and pardon granted us, we do not dare to ask it; for with what face could we dare to do so, having violated our holy vow and foully defiled the grace granted to all after our first transgressions through your singular clemency?"

There it was, it was truly there, clear to see, the words of David; to behold, I say, the afflicted and those bowed down until the end of their whole life, who *went about mourning all the day long* (Ps. xxxvii, 7), ^C their body's scars already stinking and corrupt and putrefied, as those who had no care for their bodies, and had forgotten to eat their bread, and mingled their drink of water with tears and weeping; they ate dust and ashes instead of bread. *Their bones cleaved to their skin and they withered away like grass* (Ps. ci, 5 and 12). Nor was there anything else to hear among them than words of this kind: "Woe, woe to us miserable ones, and again woe to us miserable ones; deservedly, deservedly; spare, spare, O Lord." Others cried out: "Have mercy, have mercy." Others again, even more pitifully: "Pardon, O Lord, pardon, if there is any place for forgiveness." One could see tongues burning among them, thrust out from the mouth like the tongues of dogs. Some tortured themselves in the intense heat of the sun; others tormented themselves with the cold; others, when they had tasted a little water, stopped, only so as not to die of thirst; others, when they had just tasted bread, cast it far away, calling themselves unworthy to eat human food, as those who had practiced the works of beasts. ^D Where among them was any sign of laughter? Where was idle talk? Where was anger? Where was wrath? They did not even know if anger existed among men anymore, since mourning had utterly destroyed their temper. Where was contradiction? Where was feasting? Where was boldness? Where was care for the body? Where was any trace of vainglory? Where was there any longer a hope for luxury? Where was any thought of wine? Where was any taste of fruit? Where was the comfort of the cooking pot? Where was the sweetness of the throat? For the hope of all these things in the present age had been extinguished among them. Where among them was the anxiety for anything worldly? Where was the judging of anyone—

where indeed was there room for anger, when eternal mourning had extinguished every stir of wrath in them? Where was the altercation of words? Where were fairs? Where was an uncontrolled freedom of speech? Where was care for the body? Where was a trace of vainglory? Where, then, was the hope of delicacies? Where was the thought of wine? Where was the taste of fruit? Where was the comfort of the kitchen and the cooking pot? Where was the lure of the gullet? The hope of all these things was subsequently, in their entire present life, utterly removed and blotted out. Where among them was any care for human affairs? Where was the lust to judge anyone else? Nowhere. But these things were incessantly repeated among them; these things they cried aloud to the Lord. Indeed, some beating their breasts heavily, just as if they were standing at the thresholds of heaven, clamored to the Lord: ^B "Open to us, Judge, open to us, since we ourselves have closed the doors of heaven to us by our sins; open to us." Others would say: "Show us only Thy face, and we shall be saved." Another: "Shine upon these wretches who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death." Another: "May Thy mercies speedily occupy us, O Lord, because we have perished, because we have despaired, because we have failed exceedingly." Some would say: "If only the Lord might shine upon us hereafter!" Another: "Has our soul passed over the intolerable water of debt?" Another: "Will the Lord take comfort in us again?" Do you think we shall hear the Lord saying to us, who are bound in indissoluble chains: "Come forth; and you who sit in the prison of repentance, be released from your sins"? Has our cry penetrated to his ears? All, furthermore, were sitting with death always fixed before their eyes, and saying: "What will happen to us? What sentence will be pronounced against us? What is the end of our life? Will there be a return from exile to the heavenly fatherland? Is there hope of pardon for us who are confounded, cast down, and guilty in the darkness? Could our prayer reach the sight of the Lord? Or was it deservedly rejected, cast away, and repelled with ignominy? Could it, having been admitted, propitiate the Judge even a little? How much did it progress? How much was it of benefit? What did it achieve? When it was poured forth from an impure mouth and body, surely it could not have had great power. Did it completely reconcile the Judge to us? Did it do so just a little, and in small measure? Or was only half of the wounds healed? For these are truly great, and require much sweat and toil. ^D Have our angelic guardians returned to us at last? Or are they still far from us? For as long as they disdain to approach us, all our effort and labor is empty and useless to us: for there is no hope of freedom, nor do our prayers possess the power of confidence, nor the chaste rowing of wings by which they might fly up to the Lord, unless our angels, having again become familiar with us, present these things, offered by us, to the Lord. Often and repeatedly, wavering among themselves, they would ask, "Do we make any progress, brothers? Shall we attain our vow?"

^A to those whose knees had become calloused by the multitude of their repentances, whose eyes had withered and sunk deep into their sockets; who were shorn of hair, possessing cheeks marred and inflamed by the heat of many tears; faces wasted and pale, differing in no way from the dead if you were to compare them; chests aching from blows, and blood-stained spittle cast out from the beatings upon their breasts.

Where, in that place, was the provision for a bed? Where was there cleanliness or durability in clothing? Rather, it was torn and filthy, covered with vermin. What is the affliction of those troubled by demons compared to them? What is the mourning of those who weep for the dead? What is the calamity of those living in exile? What is the punishment of those condemned for murder? Truly, their torment and involuntary punishment is nothing compared to the voluntary torment of these men.

And do not think, brothers, that these things I relate are fables; I ask this of you. Often they would entreat that great judge, I mean the shepherd, an angel living among men, and they begged that iron shackles and collars be set upon their hands and necks, and that their feet be secured in the timber of the afflicted, and that they not be released from there until at last the grave should receive them—and not even the grave, for I will not, I will not hide even this truly merciful humility of these blessed men, and their love and repentance crushed before God.

Therefore, as they were about to go to the Lord and stand before the impartial tribunal, those noble citizens ^B of that place of repentance, when any one of them saw himself held in the infirmary, he would entreat that great commander with oaths, that he not be deemed worthy of a human burial, but, as with beasts, either be cast into the river or exposed to be devoured by wild beasts in the field—which the lamp of discernment often obeyed, commanding them to be cast out, deprived of every funeral rite and prayer.

And what a fearful and pitiful sight was their final hour; for when the fellow-convicts perceived that the one amongst them was about to be perfected, and while he yet had understanding, they would surround him, and thirsting and mourning with the most pitiful demeanor and somber speech, shaking their own heads, they would ask the one departing; and burning with sympathy for him, they said: "What is it, brother and fellow-convict, how is it? What sayest thou? What hopest thou? What dost thou expect? ^C Hast thou accomplished what was sought by thy labor, or didst thou not have the strength? Hast thou been opened [to God], or dost thou still remain a debtor? Hast thou attained, or didst thou not succeed? Hast thou received any assurance, or is thy hope still uncertain? Hast thou received freedom, or does thy mind still waver and doubt? Hast thou perceived any illumination in thy heart, or is it still darkened and disgraced? Has any voice come to thee within, saying, 'Behold, thou hast been made whole,' or 'Thy sins are forgiven thee,' or 'Thy faith hath saved thee'? Or do we still hear that which says: 'Let the sinners be turned into hell,' and 'Bind ^D hands and feet,' and 'Let the ungodly be taken away, so that'

^A he may not see the glory of the Lord'? Why do you speak simply, brother? Tell us, we beseech you, so that we may also know into what things we are about to fall; for your time has now run out, and you will not find another, for it is for eternity.

To these things, some of the dying answered: 'Blessed be the Lord, who hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.' Others again: 'Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.' Others, with pain, said: 'Shall our soul pass through the water of the spirits of the air, which we cannot withstand?' Not yet confident, but looking out to see what happens in that examination. Others responded even more painfully than this, and said: 'Woe to the soul that has not kept its pledge undefiled; in this hour and for the first time, it will know what has been prepared for it!'

I, having seen and heard these things among them, was on the verge of despairing of myself, seeing my own indifference and comparing it with their suffering. For what was the state and habitation of that place itself? It was all dark, all foul-smelling, all rotting and squalid. For it was justly called a prison and a place of condemnation, so that the very sight of the place was a teacher of all repentance and mourning. But things that are difficult and unacceptable to others are found to be pleasant and easily accepted by those who have fallen from virtue and spiritual wealth. For a soul deprived of its former boldness, having lost the hope of dispassion, having broken the seal of purity, having been plundered of the wealth of gifts, having been stripped of divine comfort, having violated the command of the Lord, having quenched the good fire of spiritual tears, and being struck by the memory of this and pierced with pain, will not only accept the aforementioned labors with all readiness, but will even practice self-destruction in a pious manner through asceticism, if indeed there remains in it a remnant of a spark of love or fear of the Lord.

Such, truly, were these blessed ones; for having these things in mind, and taking into consideration the height from which they had fallen, they said: 'We remembered the days of old, that fire of our former zeal.' Others cried out to God: 'Where are thy mercies of old, O Lord, which thou showedst to our soul in thy truth? Remember the reproach and the labors of thy servants.' Another said: 'Who would make me as in the months of old, in the days when God watched over me, when his lamp of light shone above the head of my heart?' And how they remembered their former achievements, and these things like infants ^B who have died and are mourning—or rather, children crying out... ^C In truth, what seems heavy and intolerable to others is, to those who are stripped of virtue and heavenly things, a ^D lesson in repentance.

^A They mourned and said: Where is the purity of prayer? Where is its boldness? Where is the sweet tear that replaced the bitter one? Where is the anticipation of blessed apatheia? Where is the faith toward the shepherd? Where is the benefit of his prayer within us? All these have perished; they have vanished as if they had never appeared, and they have disappeared as if they had never existed.

Speaking and lamenting these things, some prayed to be possessed by a demon; others besought the Lord to fall into the sacred disease [epilepsy]; some, that they might lose their sight and be a pitiable spectacle; others, that they might be paralyzed, if only they might not suffer the evils of that place. As for me, friends, I was so carried away by the mourning that was going on there that I lost track of myself and was completely absorbed in mind, unable to restrain myself. But the account must be resumed. Having remained in that prison for thirty days, I, impatient, returned to the great cenobium to the great man. Seeing me, as if I were entirely changed and beside myself, the all-wise man understood the nature of the change and said: "What is it, Father John? Have you seen the struggles of those who are suffering?" And I said: "I have seen, Father, and I have marveled, and I have counted those who have fallen and are mourning more blessed than those who have not fallen and are not mourning; for through the fall they have risen with an unshakable resurrection." And he said: "It is so." And his truthful tongue told me: "Ten years ago, there was here a brother who was very diligent and a worker, such that, seeing him myself, so fervent in spirit, I trembled at the devil's envy, lest in his swift course he should strike his foot against a stone, which is wont to happen to those who walk swiftly; and so it happened. Then he came to me late in the evening and showed me the wound bare; he sought a plaster, asked for a cautery, and was in great distress. ^B Then, since he was worthy of compassion, seeing that the physician did not want to apply a very harsh incision to him, he threw himself on the floor, seized my feet, and bathed them with these tears; he begged for the sentence of the prison you have seen—it was impossible for me not to go there. ^C Then he forced the physician's compassion to turn to cutting—a rare and most paradoxical thing among the sick—he quickly overtook those who were repenting and became a sharer and a fellow-sufferer. Having therefore been struck in his heart as if by a sword because of the grief he felt for the love of God, on the eighth day he departed to the Lord, having asked not to receive burial. I brought him even there and buried him with the fathers, as was fitting; therefore, even after the seventh [(20)] servile day, on the eighth day ^D he is released, a free man. There is someone there who knew this clearly, that he did not rise up from my lowly and defiled feet before he had propitiated God; and it is no wonder, for having taken up the faith of that harlot into his heart, he himself was likewise...

^A permitted to wash my lowly feet. For the Lord has said, "All things are possible to him that believeth." I have seen impure souls wildly raging with a mad love for bodies, but they have taken up the thought of repentance, and from the experience of that love, they have transferred the same love to the Lord; and having leapt over every fear, they have been insatiably goaded into the love of God. For this reason the Lord says to that chaste harlot, not that she feared, but "because she loved much," and she was able to easily drive out love with love. I do not ignore, O admirable ones, that the things I have narrated seem impossible to some, hopeless to others, and to still others, they seem to be cause for despair. But a courageous man received from these things a goad, and a dart of fire, and he departed bearing zeal in his heart. ^B One who had approached this man, having acknowledged his own weakness and having easily acquired humility through the condemnation of himself, ran after the first one, though I do not know if he also overtook him.

Let the negligent man not touch these things I have said, lest, having despaired because he himself does even these things, he scatter them; and let the saying be fulfilled in him: "From him who has not, even that which he seems to have shall be taken away from him." It is not possible for us, having fallen into the pit of iniquities, and not having submerged ourselves into the abyss of the humility of those who repent, to be drawn up from there. The frowning humility of those who repent is one thing, and the condemnation of conscience of those who are still sinning is another; and another is that blessed, wealthy humility which comes to the perfect through the operation of God. Let us not hasten to find the third with words, for we shall run in vain. But the sign of the second is the complete endurance of dishonor; for prejudice plays the tyrant, and often [does so] to the one who is mourning.

And it is no wonder, for the discourse concerning judgments and falls is dark and entirely incomprehensible to any soul; as to which falls are through negligence, which through provident abandonment, and which happen to us through the turning away of God. Nevertheless, someone related this to me, that those things which happen to us by providence possess a speedy turning away from them; for He who handed us over does not allow us ^C to be overcome for long by the demon of grief. Let us, who have fallen, fight above all against him; for he stands by us at the time of our prayer, and by reminding us of our former boldness, he wishes to disable us from our prayer. Do not be discouraged if you fall every day, nor depart, but stand bravely, and the angel who guards you will surely respect your endurance. For a fresh and burning wound is by nature easily healed; for those which are chronic, neglected, and overgrown are difficult to cure, and need much labor, and iron, and burning, and fire for their healing. Many things are difficult with time, but with God all things are possible. Before the fall, a lover of mankind... ^D [the Latin text concludes: that they may not sorrow for themselves. For by the fall they have risen to a life no longer subject to any danger. It is so, says the superior, and a tongue that knows not how to lie has explained to me such a deed. Ten years ago, he says, there was here among the number of the brothers a certain man, a monk so pious, solicitous, and religious, and so ardent in spirit, that I myself, having observed him, would tremble, and I strongly feared the envy of the enemy against him, lest by excessive and headlong haste, he should strike his foot against a stone, which is wont to happen to those who are accustomed to walk more zealously: which also happened to him. Therefore, after his fall, having returned to me, late in the evening he bares his wound, and shows it, and seeks a plaster, and in his deepest affliction demands a burner and cauterization. Then, because he seemed worthy of compassion, when he noticed the physician was willing to use a less severe incision, he cast himself to the ground and, embracing my feet, he drenched them with a large shower of tears, praying that he might be condemned to that prison which you saw. For he kept crying out: "It is impossible not to depart thither." By force, therefore, he transferred the physician's mercy from severity, that he might compel him to be hard, which is rare among the sick to see beyond all custom and habit. Therefore, sooner than said, he hastens to those who are repenting, and becomes a colleague and companion in their labors and sorrows. Wounded, therefore, in his heart by the sorrow of sadness as if by a sword from divine love, he departed to the Lord on the eighth day, having first asked that he be deprived of the honor of burial. But I saw to it that he was brought back here, and that he was placed, as one far from unworthy, in the sepulcher of the fathers, as one who, after seven days of servitude, was asserted into liberty on the eighth. And there is one who has certainly known that before he rose from my unworthy and impure feet, he had already been granted full forgiveness of sins and had been reconciled to God. Nor should it seem surprising to me. He had assumed in his soul the faith of that sinful woman, and had bathed my most vile feet with tears in the same hope and confidence. "All things, however, are possible to him who believes," says the Lord. I have seen impure souls crazed with a certain insane love for bodies, who nevertheless, through the occasion of repentance and the consideration of impure love, transferred the same love and affection wholly to the Lord, and thus having crossed over to divine love, and with all servile fear conquered, they immersed themselves wholly in divine love. Therefore, the Lord does not say to that sober [prudent] sinful woman, "because she feared," but "because she loved much." He was able, therefore, with no difficulty, to drive out love with love. I do not ignore, O excellent men, that to some these struggles which we have recounted will seem beyond faith, to others beyond hope, and to others even likely to bring despair. Yet a noble and heroic spirit snatched a goad from this toward virtue, and wounded by the fiery javelin of divine love, heated by charity, he burned and departed.]

^A Demons tell [a] those who have fallen that God is harsh. Do not believe one who says, after a fall, regarding small failures, "Would that you had not done this, for it is nothing." For often small gifts have placated the great wrath of a judge. He who in truth is reckoning his accounts considers every day in which he does not mourn as a day lost. And whatever good things he has done in it, let none of those who mourn at their departure expect assurance; for the uncertain is not fixed. "Grant me release through assurance, so that I may be refreshed before I depart from here unassured." Where the Spirit of the Lord is, the bond is loosed; where there is [(26)] incomparable humility, the bond is loosed. For those who are without these two, lest they be deceived, are indeed bound. Those in the world who are even strangers to these assurances, and especially the former, run through almsgiving, recognizing their own gain at their departure. He who mourns for himself will not know mourning, or another’s fall, or blame. A dog, bitten by a beast, became all the more enraged against it, raving unforgivingly against it because of the pain of the wound [(27)]. Let us pay heed [(28)], lest it be not from purity, but as if disgusted, that one ceased to reproach the conscience. The sign of release in a fall is to consider oneself a debtor throughout all time. There is nothing equal to or greater than the mercies of God; therefore, he who despairs has slain himself [(29)]. A sign of a preoccupied repentance is to consider oneself worthy of all the visible and invisible afflictions that occur, and more than these. Moses, after seeing God in the ^B bush, again returned to Egypt, that is, to the darkness for the brick-making of the intellectual Pharaoh; but again he ascends into the bush; and not only that, but also on the mountain. He who has understood the vision never despairs of himself. The great Job becomes poor, but again he became twice as rich. In these [(30)] depths, grievous are the falls after the calling, which slap down the hope of impassibility and persuade those who reason—even if they think of the resurrection from the pit—to consider it a blessed thing. See, for we do not always return by the road through which we were led astray, but by another, short one. I saw two walking toward the Lord in the same way and at the same time; the one was old, and advancing in labors; the other was a disciple, and he ran ahead more quickly than the elder, and arrived first at the monument of humility. Let us all pay heed, and especially those who have fallen, not to conceive in the heart the doctrine of (31) Origen the godless—for the foul one, by putting forward the kindness of God, becomes acceptable to the pleasure-seekers. In my meditation, or rather in my repentance, ^C the fire of prayer shall be kindled, burning up the material. Let the aforementioned holy dwellers be your boundary, and type, and pattern, and image for repentance, and you will not need a book at all in your life.

so long as Christ the Son of God, and God, in the resurrection, illumines you with diligent repentance. Amen. ^B You who have repented have ascended to the fifth step, for by it you have cleansed your five senses; and having escaped by it, you have avoided the unbidden punishment and torment.

SCHOLIA TO STEP 5

Concerning repentance or the prison.

Scholion 1

Another

Another

Scholion 2

Aliud. He is said to be free from all care who is concerned for nothing that is on earth; he is one who cares only for himself, and who has regard solely for his own salvation.

Scholion of Isaac 3. Nothing is better than to cast oneself down prostrate before Christ crucified, day and night, with hands bound behind one's back. Do you desire that the heat of divine love in you should not grow cold, and that the fountain of tears should not dry up? Exercise yourself in these things that have been said; and you are blessed, O man, if you spend your days and nights studiously in the things that are told to you, and seek nothing else besides them. For then the light will rise for you from within, and your righteousness will shine forth quickly, and you will become like a flowering paradise, and like an inexhaustible fountain of waters.

Scholion 4. Calling back the soul that is inclining toward spiritual death, as to its own proper life, unto eternal life. Aliud. For they were calling back their own soul, which had died through sin, to the life of the virtues which they lived before.

Scholion 5. For the goads of conscience urge one always, even if they do not lead to despair; for this is the endeavor of the demons, that they never allow the mind to breathe: but they always eat away at it, to which end the thought that always condemns itself unto the very end seems to suffice for them.

Scholion 6. A heart full of sadness, which because of infirmity and weakness cannot perform the public offices of the body, fills the place of all the works and labors of the body. Aliud. Actions of the body, without sorrow or sadness of mind, are like a lifeless body. Aliud. He who is full of sadness of heart, and meanwhile is relaxed in his senses, is like one who is sick and infirm toward the labors of the body, yet whose mouth is free and relaxed and ready for every food that harms him.

Scholion 7. Certain unrefined and untaught novices often pray that they may neither be deemed worthy of the kingdom of heaven, nor be consigned to the punishments of the infernal regions; they do this, as to the former, because they are unworthy, and as to the latter, that they might obtain mercy, ignorant that those who are outside the celestial kingdom are within the place of punishments, since between virtue and malice nothing intermediate exists.

Scholion 8. He spoke of the souls of the humble; by the outward habit of the body he hints at the state of the mind. But that which follows (which could break even the hardness of stones, which are devoid of feeling), whether it signifies the magnitude of the crime or is a rather unusual metaphor, ^D

can soften and bend even the rocky hearts of men and their sensibilities, as if they were devoid of feeling, and lead them to compassion. ^A

Scholion of Saint Maximus 9.

Another.

Another.

Scholion 10.

Scholion 11.

Scholion 12.

^A future departure of his soul, then he would command the father or the superior to say what he wished.

*Isaias, a question.* When shall one know that one has obtained forgiveness of sins?

*Response 13.* When one perceives in one's soul that one has perfectly hated sins from the heart, and when one conducts and disposes oneself in one’s manifest actions in a way contrary to how one was before; then, being so affected, let one persuade oneself that one has obtained from God forgiveness of one’s offenses, with the conscience bearing witness, which one has acquired within oneself, according to the apostolic word: "A good conscience is its own witness."

*Scholion of Abba Isaias 14.* Why "Woe"? Because such a man, while in a state of repentance, cannot enjoy any portion of peace, whether he has fallen into lust in his body, or has stolen something, or has offended in some other sin, or has looked with a wicked eye and evil affection upon another's body, or has furtively and secretly tasted something, looking around in the meantime to see if he might be seen by anyone, or has curiously inquired into another’s deposit ^B or examined what he has in his sheepskin cloak. For he who does such things insults Jesus Christ.

*The same, on the same.* ^C If a man performs many great wonders, and heals the sick, and possesses all knowledge, and raises the dead, so long as he has fallen into sin, he cannot be carefree, for he is in a state of repentance. But if, even after much labor, he sees someone steeped in every kind of sin or negligence, and he despises him, all his repentance is in vain, because by judging he has cast away a member of Christ, and has not abandoned the judgment to God the Judge.

*Scholion 15.* These are they who have built bricks upon stones without mortar, or those who have fallen from virtues into vices.

*Scholion 16.* "Who will place me," he says, "or lead me back to the cycle of those days in which God watched over me, when I observed his commandments, and he illuminated the mind of my soul?"

*Scholion 17.* Let us regulate our lives by the laws of piety, lest, being turned aside into vices, we fall away from hope.

*Scholion 18.* Those who, from trust toward their religious shepherd, and from love, and from his will, have acquired virtues, these are they who have established columns and the modesty of their soul upon solid ground. ^D

Scholion 19. ^A When a man calls to mind his former sins and punishes himself, then God also takes care to grant him rest. For God rejoices that he himself has imposed the penance upon himself for the transgression of the way of God; which is a sign of the way of repentance. And as much as he forces his soul, so much is his honor increased by God.

Scholion 20. The seventh day signifies the present life, which is servile, because the created nature serves and is subject to corruption; the eighth signifies the coming age, by which we are liberated from the servitude in corruption.

Another. He calls the present life "servile" and the coming one "free." For he who, throughout the seven days of the present life, has shaken off the servitude due to the faults that customarily occur within it, has passed over to the free life in the eighth.

Scholion 21. This is fortitude: for a man to contend against his former sins—for which he also suppliantly asks God that they be forgiven—and not be persuaded by them again, whether in his heart, or in acts, or in sensations.

Another. Fortitude of heart is a help to the soul after God, just as sloth is a help to wickedness.

Another. Charity toward God drives away negligence, but lack of fear awakens it. ^B

Scholion by Isaac 22. There is a humility that is from God, and there is he who humbles himself for the fear of God, and there is a humility that is born from the desire for God. And to him who is humbled for the fear of God there follows a moderation of the limbs with orderly senses and a broken heart at all times; whereas to him who is humbled for the joy [of God], there follows a great simplicity and a heart that is growing and unconstrained. ^C

Scholion 23. It is the work of humility that, if anyone should loathe or persecute us, we should have a disposition like that of a dog, which, when it is chased away, retreats, but when it is called, comes, holding in our heart that we are not worthy to be with them. ^D

Scholion 24. Be watchful, brother, against the spirit that brings sadness to a man. For his snares are many, until he renders you powerless; for the sadness that is according to God is joy, when you see yourself standing in the will

of the Spirit of God. But he who says to you, "Where have you a refuge? You have no repentance," he is of the enemy, until he makes the man let go of self-control. But godly sorrow does not cast down a man, but says to him: "Do not be afraid; come back again; for you know that God is powerful, and He strengthens him." The strength of those who wish to pursue and attain the virtues is this: that if they fall, they do not cast away their spirit, but return again to the care of their salvation.

Another. There is a profitable sorrow, and there is a soul-destroying sorrow. The function of profitable sorrow is to lament one's own sins, and likewise the ignorance of another, and also that one may not fall away from one's purpose, and that one may attain the most perfect goodness. But worldly men, when they are not praised, are afflicted by sorrow; for they are tormented by the desire for the things of others, or they are tortured by poverty, or, having been enriched, they are carried away by madness ^A.

Scholion 25. In this the devil is called enemy and avenger; for being an enemy of virtue, after it has been lost by someone, he appears as an avenger.

Scholion 26. Through humility one attains all good things, among which is compassion, by which he himself is made certain of obtaining forgiveness.

Scholion of Isaiah the Abbot 27. When, while praying, you perceive that you are accused by your conscience of no sin at all, then you are truly asserted into true freedom, and have truly entered into the holy rest of God, according to His will ^B.

Thalassius 28. Labors of asceticism make a conscience clean; such as fasting, vigil, patience, long-suffering.

Another. Just as a thought is revealed through deeds and words, so it is through the actions of the heart, as if by way of compensation, that repentance is [manifested].

Scholion of Mark 29. The work of repentance is woven together by these three virtues: the purification of thoughts, assiduous prayer, and the endurance of afflictions; which demand not only an external, but also an internal action of the mind, so that those who persevere in these may be delivered from all perturbations of evil affections; for without these three stated virtues the work of repentance cannot be completed ^C.

Scholion 30. When the Father spoke of "the slothful," he distinguished and separated the diligent and the prompt; and the reason for this is manifest. For it is easy to believe that since they are slothful, their revocation or amendment is difficult, if ever they have lapsed into sin; for, weighed down by their own sloth, they despair of that tranquility of spirit [free] from all affections, because they do not wish to surrender themselves to more abundant labors; for this reason they think it better to... ^D

be delivered from their present sin, though they are suffering from a bad disease. But those who are diligent and disciplined, even if they fall a thousand times, never despair of attaining perfection; but they strive toward it as promptly as they can.

Aristotle. Every calamity is light to a man who is not light.

Scholion 31. The impious disease of Origen. He prescribed for certain offenders a long-term punishment, so that they might expiate the filth of sin in the fire of torments; and then he placed them in heaven with the just, wrongly using God’s mercy as a pretext for these patrons ^A.

Scholion. Fire does not glow in damp woods, and the celestial heat in a heart that loves rest or idleness does not blaze up.

GRADUS VI. On the Remembrance of Death.

Every word is preceded by thought; but the remembrance of death and of sins leads a man to tears and mourning. Therefore, in the proper order, these have been arranged in this book. ^B The remembrance of death is a daily death, and the remembrance of our departure is an unceasing sigh. Fear of death is an attribute of nature, born of disobedience; but trembling at death is a proof of sins not expiated by repentance. Christ feared death, but He did not tremble, that He might clearly demonstrate the distinct properties of His two natures. As bread is more necessary than all other food, so the remembrance of death is more necessary than all other works. ^C The remembrance of death produces in those who live in the company of the brethren toil and pious exercises, or rather, it breeds a desire for contempt [of the world] and sweetness. But to those who live apart from crowds (in solitude), it brings the neglect of all worldly cares and suggests unceasing prayer and the guarding of the mind. These are its mothers and its daughters. Just as when tin is mixed with silver, it is easily separated from it, however much it may appear similar to it otherwise, so those who have knowledge of divine things ^D know the certain and manifest difference between the natural fear of death and that which is contrary to nature. And this is the most certain sign for those who have embraced the remembrance of death in their souls and have it imprinted on the sense of their heart: that they have cast off all affection for all created things and have abandoned their own will. He is worthy of praise who expects death as if it were to come today: but he is a saint who desires it always. Not every desire for death is to be approved. For there are some who desire to die out of humility, because they are drawn continually into sin by a certain force and habit of sinning. There are others who do not wish to repent, and summon death out of despair. There are others again who, from pride, consider themselves beyond the reach of passions, and are not afraid of it.

^A For no one who had foreseen the day of his death long beforehand would have hastened to baptism or the monastic life; rather, he would have spent all his days in iniquity, and only at the very hour of his departure would he have approached baptism and repentance. Never, while mourning, allow that hellish dog to suggest to you that God is kind and merciful (unless you perceive yourself being swallowed up by extreme despair); for its goal in this is to banish from you the mourning and fear of the Lord, which produce true security. Anyone who wishes to keep the memory of death and the judgment of God in himself constantly, yet engages himself in profane cares in the meantime, is acting like a man who tries to swim with his hands tied.

The true and effective meditation on death utterly kills gluttony; and when gluttony is conquered, all other vices lie conquered along with it. Stupor of heart blinds the mind; an abundance of food dries up the fountain of tears. Thirst and vigils constrict the heart; and from a heart thus afflicted, waters spring forth. ^B These things that we have said are hard for those who are gluttonous and slaves to their belly, but they are incredible to the slothful. A man of practice, however, will eagerly undertake them; he who has found them by experience will smile at the ease of the thing; but he who merely inquires and disputes about them will reap nothing but sadness. Just as the Fathers denied that perfect love can fall, so I assert that the perfect sense of death is devoid of fear. There are many workings of the active mind; I mean the meditation of love, that is, of love for God; the memory of death, the memory of God, the memory of the kingdom, zeal for the holy martyrs, the memory of God Himself being present, according to him who said: "I kept the Lord before me always." ^C The memory of holy and intellectual powers, the memory of departure, of the meeting, of torment, of the sentence. We began with great things, and we have ended with those that are impossible to fall from.

An Egyptian monk once told me that after the memory of death had become fixed in his mind, and so deeply impressed upon his heart with a sense of reality, when I wanted, upon some occasion of necessity, to indulge the clay of my body with a little consolation, I was prevented by the memory, as if by a judge. And the marvelous thing is that even when I wished to put the memory of death aside (for an hour), I could not. Another man who lived here in the place called Tholus often, from such a state of mind, would depart from his senses, and being, as it were, faint-hearted or even epileptic, he was almost lifted up, breathless, by the brethren who found him. ^D I will not omit to tell you the story of Hesychius the Choreutai. This man lived in total negligence, not taking any care of his soul at all; but falling desperately ill in body, he departed from this life for one hour exactly. Having returned to himself, he begged us all to leave immediately. And having walled up the door of his cell, he remained inside for twelve years, having conversed with no one at all, nor speaking a word to anyone, great or small, nor tasting anything else but bread and water; but sitting alone, and...

pondering in his mind those things he had seen in his ecstasy, he never again changed his natural disposition, but was always out of his mind and feeding, as it were, on hot, silent tears. When he was about to depart, we broke open the door and entered; and after much entreaty, this and this alone we heard from him: "Forgive me; no one who has kept the memory of death in his mind will ever be able to sin." ^B We were astonished, seeing him who had been so neglectful before, now so suddenly transformed by a blessed change and metamorphosis. After we had buried him piously in the cemetery near the fortress, we went back the next day and sought his holy relics, but we did not find them; the Lord thereby showing to all, in this case also, that He accepts the careful and praiseworthy repentance of those who wish, even after much neglect, to amend themselves. Just as some define the abyss as fathomless, for they call it a place without bottom, so the thought of death possesses an incorruptible purity and the exercise of all the virtues. ^C The aforementioned holy man confirms this. For such men, through fear, continuously accumulate further fear, and do not cease from this exercise until even the strength of their bones is consumed. Let us be firmly convinced that this, too, among all His other countless blessings, is a gift of God; for we have often experienced that when we arrive at the very tombs, we remain tearless and hardened, whereas, outside of such contemplation, we are frequently dissolved into mourning and tears. The man who is dead to all things has truly embraced the memory of death; but he who is still held by the desires of things does not cease to be a plotter against himself. Do not wish to declare your affection for others to them all by words; pray rather to God that He himself, in the mysterious way He can, may fulfill your role toward another. For if you do not do this, no time will suffice for you to show your soul toward others and to excite compunction of soul. ^D Be not deceived, foolish hireling, by hoping to redeem time with time; for the day is not sufficient to fulfill its own duty to the Master without fail. It is not possible, it is said, among mortals, to spend the present day piously and religiously, unless we consider it the very last and final day of our whole life. And indeed, it is a wonder how even the pagan writers have uttered something of this kind, for they define the study of philosophy as nothing else than the meditation of death.

^A He who has ascended this sixth step will henceforth never sin. ‹“Remember your last things, and you shall never sin.”› [11 Eccle. VII, 40.]

SCHOLIA TO STEP VI

Scholion 2. The contemplation of death, he says, makes those who live under religious discipline patient in their labors, and causes them to find more delight in ignominy. To those who live in solitude, however, it removes all care for human affairs, so that they may be free for prayers and meditations alone.

Another scholion. Anachoretes who have renounced the world, being destitute of the love of poverty and the excision of their own will, are wont to be disturbed while they are engaged in the meditation of death itself.

Another scholion. Among those who live in the midst of the crowds of men, it generates labors and trifles, or rather ignominious pleasures; but among those who live away from tumult, it produces a casting aside of cares, and assiduous prayers, and custody of the mind. Or, among monks who live indifferently in the midst of worldly crowds and not according to God, it brings forth labors—that is, empty toils—and trifles—that is, useless words and foolish speech—and the delight of ignominy (a). But among those who live away from the turmoil, it produces a casting aside of cares, prayer, and custody of the mind; for the commandmends of Christ and the return, or conversion, to Him are their concern. ^B

Scholion 3. Forgetfulness of the commandments of God and the perversity of free will blind the heart and make the mind stupid; or, conversely, they blind the mind and render the heart insensate or stony.

Scholion 4. What is arduous and difficult for others is for those who are well-exercised a cause and occasion for joy and exultation, inasmuch as they have gained for themselves ease in these things through practice itself, and through them have advanced to perfection. But the imperfect do not attain such things without labor, if indeed they attain them at all. ^C

Scholion 5. So familiar, he says, was the memory of death to this Egyptian monk whom he mentioned, that even when urged by a hunger of many days, he could not, however much he might have wished, repel the memory of death from himself; rather, it even drove away the hunger itself. ^D

(a) This passage is corrupt or not understood by me. In the Greek, unless you read "not finding pleasure" as if in ignominies... [Latin variant: But to the monks. Truly, "not abhorring" does not correspond to the Greeks; therefore, it should be written "not finding pleasure."]

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^A Scholion 6. Just as, he says, the depth of the sea is immeasurable and incomprehensible, so too is the end of purity unattainable; that is to say, it is an end that does not exist for those who possess in the sense of the heart the memory of death. For it is impossible for a humble man, who is continuously mindful of death, to ever say like the Pharisee: "I have reached the end of purity," that is, "I have become perfect in holiness." For he who says such things would not be humble, and a strange thing happens: namely, that he who dares to say this does not even touch unpassionateness with the tips of his fingers (for vainglory is a passion more grievous than others); but that it should be said by the humble man, that he has attained that most pure integrity, that is to be devoid of humility, to such an extent that it cannot be understood how perfect chastity could exist in both: I mean in the humble man and in the proud one, or in one devoted to the pursuit of vainglory.

^B Scholion 7. To wish to bear witness to charity towards all by words is difficult and clearly to be rejected; but by deeds, it is both easy and very simple for one who hastens to achieve virtue. And how? Listen. Someone comes and insults me, or even strikes me. If, therefore, I say—even though I am able to defend myself—that I will not defend myself, but rather, on the contrary, I will fall at his knees, I will entreat him, I will kiss him, I will show him whatever favors I can, it is clear to all that I have done these things out of charity. So it is with deeds; but how could it be done by words? For if, while praying for all, I say that I love them, I appear a flatterer and a people-pleaser, practicing a feigned virtue and hunting for empty glory thereby. The Father therefore exhorts us not to strive to show charity by words, but by deeds, while charity towards God should be shown by both, and more so by words. For the sign of love towards Him is continuous prayer. For thus you will achieve both virtues; for if you strive to fulfill love towards men by words alone, even the whole span of your life will not suffice you for relationships and compunction.

STEP VII

Concerning mourning which creates joy

^C Mourning according to God is a sadness of the soul and a state of a grieving heart, which always madly seeks that for which it thirsts. And in the failure to find this, it pursues it painfully, and cries out sorrowfully behind it. Or thus: mourning is a golden spur of the soul, having been stripped of every attachment and relationship, and having been pierced by holy sorrow in the visitation of the heart. Compunction is the eternal torment of the conscience, which by intellectual confession manages the cooling of the fire of the heart. Confession is the forgetfulness of nature, if indeed someone has forgotten to eat his bread. Repentance is...

the renunciation of every human consolation. ^A It is proper for one who is progressing in blessed mourning to practice temperance in food and silence of the lips; for those who have already made progress, it is to achieve victory over anger and forgetfulness of injuries; for those who are perfect, it is a truly humble mind, a thirst for insults, a voluntary hunger for afflictions contrary to nature, and not only no condemnation of those who sin, but a compassion that exceeds what nature allows. The first are to be approved, the second are to be praised, but blessed are the last, who hunger for afflictions and thirst for insults, for they shall be sated with insatiable food. You who have attained mourning, hold onto it with all your might. For before it has struck roots in the soul, it is easily, by the disturbances of the body and pleasures—especially by excessive talkativeness, ^B scurrilous levity, and petulance—dissolved and made to vanish like wax before fire. After baptism, the fount of tears is more powerful, if it is right to say so. For baptism only cleanses the filth of past sins, but mourning washes away the sins contracted after baptism. The baptism with which we were washed as infants we have all since defiled; but through the fount of tears we restore even that baptism to its own brightness, and if the most benign God had not bestowed this upon humanity, rare indeed or very few would be those who attain salvation. Sighs and a soul afflicted with sorrow cry out to the Lord. Tears shed from the fear of God perform the service of a suppliant embassy; but those which overflow from divine charity show that our prayers have been accepted by God. If nothing aids humility as much as mourning, certainly nothing is as contrary to it as laughter. ^C Preserve as much as you are able the blessed sadness of holy compunction, which produces true joy. Do not cease to exercise yourself in it, until it sets you on high for Christ, and remains untainted by the contagions of this life. And never stop imprinting upon your innermost senses and penetrating with your mind the gaping, immense abyss of the dark fire, the cruel executioners, the merciless and inexorable judge, the infinite chaos of the infernal conflagration, the subterranean and formidable places, and the narrow descents of the deepest chasms, and the forms and images of all these and such evils, so that, struck with great terror, our soul, prone to lust, may be inflamed with incorrupt chastity and, by the spiritual light which it receives from mourning, be ^D more illuminated than by any fire, however clear the rays it might cast from itself. While you devote yourself to prayers, stand before the Judge trembling, no differently than a criminal, so that by the humble state of your body externally, and the disposition of your soul internally, you may extinguish the wrath of the just Judge. For He cannot despise a soul standing before Him in sorrow like a widow, importuning Him and wearying Him with prayers, even though He is untiring. He who is touched by the inner mourning of tears, to him every place is suitable for mourning. But if he works only through external means, he will not cease to distinguish between places and ways. As a hidden treasure is more secure than one laid out in the marketplace, so let us consider the aforementioned things. Do not become like those who bury the dead, now mourning for them, and now getting drunk because of them; but be like those who are prisoners in mines, being whipped every hour by the executioners, for he who is now mourning, and now luxuriating, and growing a beard, is like one who with bread...

^A pelts the dog of sensuality, who in appearance drives it away, but in reality encourages it to wait upon him. Be thoughtful and shun display, distraught concerning your own heart. For demons fear a thoughtful mind just as thieves fear dogs. There is no calling to marriage here for us, friends, there is not—no! But he who called us here has called us entirely to mourning for ourselves. Some ^B, while weeping, force themselves at that blessed time to ponder nothing at all, not realizing that a tear without thought is proper to an irrational nature, and not the offspring of rational thoughts; but it is thought and mind that are the father of thought. Let your reclining on your bed be a pattern of your lying in the grave, and you will sleep less. And let the very enjoyment of the table be to you a recollection of the painful table of those worms; and you will eat less. And when taking a drink of water, do not forget the thirst of that flame; and you will certainly do violence to your nature. And when we are subjected to ^C esteemed dishonor, and rebuke, and penalties by one who presides over us, let us think upon the fearful sentence of the Judge; and by gentleness and patience we shall slaughter, as with a two-edged sword, that irrational grief and bitterness which is sown in us. "The sea is thinned by time," as Job says, and by time and patience what has been spoken of comes to pass and is perfected in us little by little. Let the memory of eternal fire go to sleep with you in the evening, and rise with you; and sloth will never gain the mastery over you at the time of psalmody. Let even your very clothing persuade you to the work of mourning. For all who mourn for the dead clothe themselves in black. If you are not mourning, mourn for that very reason; and if you do mourn, mourn all the more for this, ^D that by your transgressions you have brought yourself down from a state of ease into one of toil. It is judged in every way by our good and just Judge, as in all things, so also in tears, that the power of nature [is at work]. For I have seen small drops poured forth with pain like blood, and I have seen fountains poured forth without pain, though I for my part judged those who suffer more according to the pain, and not according to the tear; and I believe God does so as well. It is not (a) fitting for those who are mourning to engage in theology; for such is naturally inclined to dissolve their mourning. For the one is like a person sitting on a throne of teaching; the other, like one dwelling on a dunghill and in sackcloth. And this is, as I think, what David also, even though he was a teacher and a wise man, answered those who asked him when he was mourning: "How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?"—that is, in passion. And as regards creation, and as regards compunction, it 10 is self-moving and other-moved. When the soul—even if you have not hastened nor practiced it—becomes tearful and moist and gentle, let us run, for the Lord has come unbidden, giving us a sponge of God-beloved sorrow and water of refreshment from God-fearing tears for the wiping away of those sins in the

handwriting of our transgressions; guard this as the apple of your eye until it shall pass away. For its power is great—greater than that which is produced by our own zeal and device. It is not when the mourner wills that this beauty of mourning arrives, but when He wills; and not even when He wills, but as God wills. Often the grace-less tear ^A of vainglory is mingled with mourning according to God. We shall discern this prudently and piously, whenever we see ourselves mourning and yet performing wicked deeds. True compunction is a deep sorrow of soul, undisturbed, offering itself no consolation, but at every hour imagining only its own dissolution, and waiting for the consolation of God, who comforts humble monks, as cold water. Those who have acquired mourning in the sense of the heart have also hated their own lives and have turned away from their own bodies as from an enemy. Whenever we see anger and pride in those who appear to mourn according to God, let us consider their tears to be of the opposite kind. For what fellowship has light with darkness? ^B Pride is the offspring of adulterated compunction, but consolation proceeds from that which is praiseworthy. Just as fire is destructive to stubble, so the pure tear is destructive to every perceived and conceived impurity. The discourse concerning tears among many of the Fathers is somewhat obscure and difficult to find; it is defined especially for those who are beginners, and it is said that they are born of many and various ways. I mean by nature, from God, from opposite affliction, from that which is praiseworthy, from vainglory, from fornication, from love, from the remembrance of death, and from many others. But having trained the methods of all these through the fear of God, let us acquire for ourselves tears that are pure and guileless in our own dissolution; for there is no theft or pride in them. Rather, it is a cleansing, ^C an impulsion of love toward God, a washing away of sin, and an impassibility of the passions. For it is no wonder to begin mourning with tears of good things and to end in evil things. But to graft from opposites or natural things into spiritual things is praiseworthy; and this problem those who are prone to vainglory clearly understand. Do not trust your own springs before a perfect cleansing; for wine that is immediately enclosed from the winepress does not have stability. That all our tears according to God are beneficial, there is no one who would gainsay; as for the profit accruing from them, we shall know at the time of our departure. Whoever walks in continuous mourning according to God, this person ^D does not cease celebrating day by day. He who does not cease celebrating bodily will have eternal mourning waiting for him. There is no joy for captives in prison, and there is no feast for true monks upon the earth. And perhaps it was for this reason that that man of perfect mourning sighed and said: "Bring my soul out of prison, that I may lastly rejoice in your ineffable light." Be as a king in your own heart, sitting high in humility, and...

^A commanding laughter: "Go," and it goes; and calling sweet tears: "Come," and they come; and ordering our servile body, that tyrant: "Do this," and it does it. If anyone has put on this blessed and grace-filled mourning like a bridal robe, he has known the spiritual laughter of the soul. Who, then, is such a man that he has spent all his time in the monastic life so piously that he has not lost a day, not an hour, not a moment, but has consumed it with the Lord, considering that it is impossible to see the same day twice in his life? Blessed is the monk who is able to gaze unceasingly with the eyes of the soul toward the intellectual powers; but he is truly infallible who continually bedews his cheeks with physical tears, out of the memory of death and of his transgressions, while he lives. But I struggle to believe that the first state preceded the second. I have seen beggars, and shameless paupers, with strange steps, and even the hearts of kings quickly inclined to compassion. And I have seen beggars and other poor men of virtue, not with strange, but rather with humble, and dark, and helpless words from a deep and despairing heart, shamelessly and persistently crying out to the heavenly ^B king, and by their own violence forcing his unforced compassion and nature. He who is spiritually puffed up on account of his own tears, and condemns those who do not weep within himself, is like the man who asked for a weapon from the king against his own enemy, but then used it to destroy himself. God, O people, does not require or desire that a man should mourn out of the pain of his heart; but rather that, out of love for Him, he should rejoice in the laughter of the soul. Remove sin, and the sorrowful tear becomes superfluous to the physical eyes. For there is nothing dry where no moisture is present. There was no tear in Adam before the transgression; just as there will be none after the resurrection, when sin is finished. If pain, grief, and sighing have fled then. I have seen mourning in some, and in others I have seen a confusion of mourning; for although they possess it, they act as if they do not, and through their good purity they remain unharmed. And these are they of whom it was said: "The Lord makes the blind wise" (Ps. CXLVI). Often, lighter people go and lift up even the tear; which is why it is not given to some—those who, in their search for it, berate and condemn themselves with sighs and dejection and grief of soul and deep gloom and despair, which are naturally capable of fulfilling the form of the tear without danger, even if they are reckoned for nothing useful by them. By watching, we will often find that the demons create a bitter mockery of us. For when we are satiated they make us repent, and when we are fasting they make us hard, so that, being deceived by these bastard tears, the food of the mother of passions, we might surrender ourselves ^C to the laughter. It goes, and goes; and to the sweet weeping: "Come," and it comes; and to our servant and tyrant, the body: "Do this," and it does it. If anyone has put on the blessed and gifted mourning as a bridal cloak, he has recognized the spiritual laughter of the soul. Who is, then, such a one as has spent all his time in the monastic profession so piously, that he has not at any time lost a day, an hour, or a moment, but has spent it upon the Lord, considering that the same day can never be seen twice in this life? Blessed indeed is the monk who is able to gaze with the eyes of his soul upon the blessed celestial minds and angels. Yet that man is altogether impeccable who incessantly inundates his cheeks with hot tears, shed also from the eyes of the body, through the meditation of death and the consideration of his own sins. I could with difficulty be brought to believe that the former is happy.

Those, however, are things to which one should not yield; rather, one should do the opposite. I myself, even while considering the very quality of compunction, am astonished: how mourning and what is called sorrow contain joy and gladness, as if intertwined within like a honeycomb. What do we learn from this? That such compunction is truly ^A a gift of the Lord. There is then in the soul no joy devoid of sweetness, as God secretly consoles those who are broken in heart.

But let us hear a soul-profiting and most pitiable story, a subject truly of evident mourning and of exceeding pain. There was a certain Stephen, living here, who embraced an eremitic and hesychastic life, having spent many years in the monastic arena, adorned especially with fasts and tears, and blossoming with other excellent virtues. He possessed a cell near the descent of the holy and God-viewed sun on this holy mountain. This same man, this praiseworthy one, moved from goal to goal toward more energetic, narrower, and more laborious repentance, and had prepared for himself the pattern of the anchorites, called Siddin, and had lived there in a very narrow and prescribed regimen for some years. Since this life is devoid of consolation and inaccessible to any human passage, as it happens to be seventy miles from the fortress, the elder would ascend towards the end of his life to his own cell on the holy summit. He had there also two disciples, very devout Palestinians, who guarded the cell of the elder. Having done so for a few days, the elder fell into an illness, in which he was also perfected. ^B One day before his passing, he became ecstatic in his mind, and with his eyes open, he gazed to the right and left of his bed. And as if being held to an account by some, he would say in the hearing of all those standing by: "At times, Yes, truly, it is the truth, but I fasted so many years for this." Then again: "No, truly you are lying; I did not do this." And again: "Yes, truly this, yes; but I wept, but I served." And again: "No, in no way do you accuse me." And there were times when he said to someone: "Yes, truly, yes; and to this I do not know what to say; in God is mercy." And it was truly a sight terrible and fearful, an invisible and relentless ^C accounting. Most terrifying of all was that they were accusing him even of things he had not done. Alas! The hesychast and anchorite was saying to one of his faults, "To these things I know not what to say," having been a monk for some forty years, and having the gift of tears. Woe is me! Woe is me! Where was then the voice of Ezekiel, to say to them, as God said: "In whatever I find you, in that I will judge you"? Indeed, he was able to say nothing of the sort. For whose sake—glory be to Him who alone knows! Some, however, related to me, as if from the Lord, that he had even given a leopard from his hand in the desert. And thus, being held to account, he departed from the body, not having made clear what the judgment, or the end, or his sentence, or the outcome of the accounting was. ^D

^A Just as a widow who has lost her husband, possessing only an only son after the Lord, possesses him as her sole consolation, so too for a soul that has fallen, there is no other consolation at the time of departure like the sobs of the throat and the tear. Such people never sing melodies, nor do they raise loud cries in hymns to themselves; for such things are destructive to mourning. If you endeavor to summon it through these, the work is still far removed from you; for mourning is the solidified pain of a burning soul. Mourning has become a forerunner of blessed passionlessness to many, having prepared the way, smoothed it, and consumed the matter. ^B A proven worker of this virtue told me that when he often practiced and was drawn toward vainglory, or anger, or gluttony, the thought of mourning testified to him from within, saying: "Do not be vainglorious, since I am departing, and likewise regarding the other passions." And I said to it: "I will never disobey you, until you present me to Christ."

An abyss of mourning saw consolation, but purity of heart received illumination. Illumination is an invisible energy, understood unknowingly, and seen invisibly. Consolation is the refreshment of a pain-filled soul, which, like an infant, is simultaneously weeping within itself and smiling brightly. Relief is the renewal of a soul that has fallen into grief, having miraculously transformed the painful tear into a painless one. The tears of departure beget fear; and when fear has given birth to fearlessness, joy appears; and when the joy of ungraspable holy love has ended, the flower has blossomed. ^C Put away—as one who is unworthy—the joy that visits you in the hand of humility, so that by being easily led, you may not receive a wolf in place of a shepherd. Do not run to contemplation at a time not meant for contemplation, that the beauty of your humility may not be chased away, and caught, and it shall be joined to you in an all-pure marriage for ever and ever. In the very beginning, when the infant recognizes the father, he becomes entirely filled with joy; but then, when the father travels away for a time for the sake of dispensation, and then returns again, the child becomes full of both joy and grief—joy, because he sees the beloved; grief, because of the deprivation of such great and beautiful excellence for such a length of time. ^D The mother hides herself from the infant, and seeing him painfully seeking her, she is delighted, training him to be constantly clinging to her; and she fans his desire for herself strongly into a flame. He who has ears to hear, let him hear, says the Lord. He who has received the sentence [of mourning] as a condemned man will not be concerned with the affairs of the theaters; and he who is actively mourning will never attach himself to luxury, or glory, or anger, or quick-temperedness. Mourning is the solidified pain of a repenting soul, adding daily pains to pains, as she who gives birth and suffers. Righteous and holy is the Lord; and He who stirs to contrition by the word the one who is quiet by the word; and the one who is subject by the word...

[...The Latin column continues the narrative regarding Stephanus:] ^D There were, furthermore, those who, with the Lord as witness, holily affirmed to me that while he was living in the desert, a leopard was fed by his hand: yet this same man, so agitated by the most severe exactors of the accounts of life, and so...

^A gladdening himself day by day. Another person, not unskilfully, has changed the manner of his mourning. Lay aside the dog approaching you in the deepest mourning, and suggesting that God is unmerciful and unsympathetic. For if you observe Him, you will find God to be a lover of mankind even before sin, and inviting you to Him as a compassionate and forgiving God. Talkativeness produces a sequence [of sins], and this in turn ends in [lack of] perception; but that which is done without perception is impossible to discard, even if we are involved in great ways of life; yet if we do not possess a heart that is pained, these [efforts] are revealed as spurious and stale; for it is truly necessary, it is necessary, if I may so speak, for those who have been defiled again after the washing, to rub off their own hands with the unceasing fire of the heart and the oil of God. I have seen a limit of mourning in some—those who mourn—the most extreme; for I have seen them sensibly shedding blood from a heart that is pained and stricken, from the mouth; and I remembered him who said: “I was struck like grass, and my heart was withered.” ^B Tears from fear possess within themselves both trembling and watchfulness; those of love, perhaps, have become pleasant to some even before perfect love. I do not know if, had the memory of the unceasing fire not kindled the heart at the time of its operation, it would be so. And it is a marvel to say how the deeper state is safer at its own proper time. There are materials that dry up our springs, and there are others that produce mud in them, and wild beasts; and through the former, Lot lived lawlessly with his daughters; and through the latter, the devil has fallen from heaven. Great is the wickedness of our enemies in them, how they make mothers of virtues into mothers of vices, and prove the materials that produce humiliations to be creators of pride. Often, even the dwelling-places and views of our abodes, by nature, call our mind to compunction; and let [Jesus] and Elijah and John, praying by themselves, persuade us. I have seen tears moved often in cities and amid disturbances, so that we may not think we are harmed by the disturbances, and thus approach the world; for this is the goal of the evil demons. One argument has often dissolved mourning—but it is a marvel if it has even led to it. We shall not be accused, O men, we shall not be accused at the departure of the soul, because we have not worked miracles, nor because we have not spoken theology, nor because we have not become contemplatives, but we shall surely have to give an account to God because we have not mourned unceasingly.

^C And here is the seventh step; may he who has surmounted it reach out a hand to me, just as he himself had his life’s stains washed away with help [from above].

SCHOLIA ON STEP VII

On Mourning

Scholion 1

Scholion of Theodore of Edessa 2

sin. ^A A man of silence is the seat of perception, and also, as the Lord said, we must give an account for every idle word.

Syncletica 3. We are born into life three times; the first is from the womb; the other two lead us from earth to heaven; the divine baptism, which we also call regeneration, as a second birth, and the third which arises from repentance.

Saint Maximus 4. The submissiveness of the soul is constant prayer with tears and the discipline of labor; for, as it continually calls upon God for aid, it does not allow anyone to recklessly rely on their own virtue and wisdom, or to pride themselves against others, which are the severe ^B maladies of the passion of pride.

Another. Mourning is a bitter sense of the loss of one's joys.

Basil the Great 5. To break out into immoderate and effusive laughter is a sign of intemperance, and of one whose swelling or pride of soul has not yet been compressed by severe reason; yet it is not unbecoming to manifest the diffusion of a happy soul with a moderate and gentle smile, in order to show that which is written: "A joyful heart makes the face cheerful." ^C But to break out into open and huge guffaws, and to be shaken or to jump about with the body, is not for one who has a well-composed and upright soul, and who has himself under control. This sentiment of ours is confirmed by the most wise Solomon when he says: "A fool raises his voice in laughter, but a wise man will scarcely smile in silence."

Scholion 6. The condition or posture of one praying is an attentive mind with reverence and compunction and pain of soul, in the confession of sins with silent groanings.

Another. A bound man cannot run, nor can a mind subject to evil affections perceive the place of spiritual prayer; for it is pulled and carried about ^D by the thoughts of its perturbations, and is nowhere at rest.

Another of Mark. Prayer is the putting away of thoughts (alien to prayer).

Scholion 7. A heart accustomed to being delighted by pleasures is the soul's prison and chain at the time of departure or death; but one given to labors is a door standing open (to heaven).

Another. From the love of pleasure is born negligence, and from negligence comes forgetfulness; for God has bestowed the knowledge of useful things upon all.

Another of Saint Maximus. Those who spurn pleasures do so because of fear, or hope, or knowledge, or love for God.

^A Another of Thalassius. Meet sorrowful thoughts by forgetting all injuries; meet those that are pleasure-loving with extreme hatred and aversion.

Another of Isaac. Attend and write these things into your heart, that the love of pleasures and of ease and of idleness is the cause of falling away.

Scholion 8. Some, says he, who shed tears in the time of prayer from the thought of their transgressions, or from the memory of death, or from some other thing, force themselves untimely—that is to say, improperly or foolishly—to drive away the thought from which they began to weep; striving, I think, to acquire mourning without labor, out of vainglory, not understanding that it is of an irrational nature not to know for what cause one weeps; while it is of a rational nature to know the cause. Wherefore, as doing ill, they are rebuked and censured by the Father.

Scholion 9. Tears from pure, undistracted meditation ^B and from many thoughts that succeed one another continuously and steadily, and from the memory of some minor matter occurring in the mind that grieves the heart, from such causes do these tears abound and increase even more.

Scholion 10. Compunction is of two kinds: one is unforced, born of itself; the other is sought by effort and excited from elsewhere. He terms the spontaneous one mild, gentle, and kind; and because he who is easily and effortlessly pricked, and is prone to tears, is like a sponge that wipes away all sins, he says: furthermore, guard this gift as the apple of your eye.

Scholion 11. The Father has well refuted and condemned these two types of mourning: when the person mourning ^C mourns when he wishes, and for what things he wishes. For it is not rare for someone to weep when he is reproached by someone, or insulted, or suffers a loss. And this kind of mourning is not set in praise nor is it religious, but natural. For the agitation of the heart because of the affliction of an insult, because it cannot take vengeance on the one who harmed it, pours forth tears. The same thing happens in those cases where one wishes to mourn as he desires—for instance, at the death of a relative, or at the success of a neighbor, or in other worldly matters. But he said that only that mourning is good ^D which is done as God wills. And God wills that someone should weep for the sake of his own transgressions, for the sake of the memory of death, for the sake of falling short of the kingdom of heaven, and simply for the sake of all things that pertain to the soul; so that this alone is the praiseworthy mourning.

Scholion 12. ^A Just as rain, poured upon the earth, provides to each plant juice convenient to its nature—sweet to the sweet, bitter to the bitter—so divine grace, perpetually poured into the hearts of the faithful, bestows resources and aids appropriate to the virtues: it becomes, I say, food for him who hungers for Christ, a most sweet drink for him who thirsts, a garment for him who is cold, rest for the weary, infused hope for the one who prays, and consolation for the one who mourns.

Scholion 13. By catachresis—that is, by misuse—he calls leisure a "feast," which is otherwise the beginning of base action. But for religious men working for God, there is never any leisure. For this very thing—to converse assiduously with God—is for them a feast day, which declares not a cessation, but an unceasing cult of divine service, after the example of the angels.

Scholion 14. The mind is, and is called, the ruler of the irrational parts of the soul and of the natural appetites. It is sublime, as though seated in a dejected and humble disposition regarding base and earthly passions; that is, it remains upon itself, and keeps its own leisure and rest.

Scholion 15. ^B We know that whoever attributes the heavenly gifts of tears—or the graces with which he is adorned by God—to his own merits and virtues, inclines and turns toward pride and damnation. For tears arise either from divine love, or from the pursuit of vain glory, or from the heat of wine, or from the snares of the demon, or from ignominy, or from affliction. ^C

Scholion 16. There is one joy that prepares the mind, and another that makes it perfect: the former is not free from fantasy and imagination, while the latter possesses the grace of humility. Between these lies a certain sadness very pleasing to God, namely, tears devoid of pain. For truly, "in the multitude of wisdom there is a multitude of knowledge, and he who adds knowledge adds pain." Therefore, the soul must first be called to the struggles by the initial joy, and then be examined and tested by the truth of the Spirit, regarding those things in which it acted wrongly and regarding those agitations by which it is still plagued. "In rebukes," it says, "thou hast corrected man for iniquity, and made his soul to pine away like a spider," so that divine rebuke might test him as if in a smelting furnace or a metal-founding furnace; thus he may attain the virtue of joy without phantasms in the fervent memory of God. ^D

Scholion 17. Every ecclesiastical family which once had the devil for a husband and spouse, and having rejected him has embraced Christ, is a widow, and day and night stands in need of

the Judge who vindicates, saying: Avenge me of my adversary. [Scholion Isaaci 18] A man knows that his heart has attained to purity when he considers all mortals to be good, and no one appears to him impure or profane. Then he is truly pure in heart. For how will the oracle of the Apostle be fulfilled, which says, "counting all men as superior to themselves in humility," if that other saying is not also heeded: "To the pure, the eye will behold nothing evil"?

[Scholion 19] Importunate or indiscreet contemplation brings many dangers; for the devil transforms himself into an angel of light, and he frequently deceives those who do not know the measure and scale of their own weakness. Hence a certain elder said: "I do not desire to see Christ in this life."

[Scholion 20] By the mother, understand the goodness of God, the illumination, and the contemplation; by the infant, hope and the monk’s purity of prayer. By the anxious investigation, accept the prayers customarily performed with labor by such an infant; and by the delight of the aforementioned mother, the infant's persevering quest, that is, the prayer of supplication.

[Scholion 21] The righteous Lord justly dispenses help to each, both to him who lives in solitude lawfully and as required, and to him who lawfully submits to another. The father says, therefore, that whoever follows either of these ways—that is, whether he practices solitude or submits to obedience—if they do not practice these as they ought, they are bereft of spiritual lamentation, that is, of compunction; and for this reason they are worthy of many tears. For that which is not unadulterated is clearly falsely done. And let this not deceive you, O hearer, that to be bereft of lamentation is to be considered good. Since almost the entire discourse on this seventh step is about lamentation, if we construe the having been bereft of lamentation as having achieved the eremetic or the cenobitic state, we run outside the father’s intention and do not understand as we ought; therefore, we must be attentive.

[Scholion 22] To those who dwell in lamentation (after sin has been committed), the demons suggest that God is unmerciful and inexorable, wishing to drag those who mourn into despair. But before the falls, they show Him as merciful and clement with plausible arguments, that they might cast them into sins.

[Scholion Isaaci] The sadness of our mind is more pleasing to God than any bodily labor; for the holy Gregory says: "The temple..."

of God's grace is he who is mingled with God, and abides in the care of His judgment." ^A Scholion 23. Sadness which long clings in the heart and has turned into a habit is removed with difficulty.

Scholion 24. They are either puffed up in the doing of a work, or they despise others in their talkativeness.

Another Scholion. To despise and be proud toward others in prudence; to boast in fortitude; to imitate sailors and travelers in temperance; in justice to vindicate oneself in similar matters.

Scholion 25. To those inexperienced persons who say that common saying: "It is not the place, but the conduct," let them know and understand how the place also adorns the conduct and adds grace, so that it is not the conduct alone—as some simply say—but the place also, for the most part, contributes greatly to the working of virtue.

Another. There are three things which man acquires with difficulty, and which guard all virtues: mourning, weeping for one’s sins, and always keeping one’s own death before one’s eyes.

GRADUS VIII.

On the victory over anger, and on meekness.

Just as a flame, when water is poured upon it little by little, is at length entirely extinguished, so the tear born of true mourning is by nature able to kill all the flame of wrath and quick temper; wherefore we have placed it next in order. ^B Anger (orgia), therefore, is an insatiable craving for dishonor, just as in the vainglorious it is an endless craving for praise. Anger is a defeat of nature, one which comes about in the face of insults through struggles and sweat. Meekness is an immovable state of the soul, which remains the same in the face of both dishonor and praise. The beginning of the absence of anger is silence of the lips amidst agitation of the heart; the middle state is silence of one’s thoughts amidst an agitation of the soul; and the end is a settled calm in the breeze of unclean winds. Wrath (orge) is a reminder of hidden hatred, that is to say, of malice. Wrath is a desire for the injury of the one who has provoked us. Quick temper is a sudden inflammation of the heart happening without delay. Bitterness is a joyless movement dwelling in the soul. Anger (thymos) is ^C a changeable movement of the habits and a disgrace of the soul. As, when light appears, the darkness retreats; so, from the scent of humility, all bitterness and anger disappear. Some, being fickle by nature in their anger, are disposed toward the healing and care of this matter carelessly, not understanding, wretched ones, the word of Him who said: "The inclination of his anger is his fall." It is... ^D

^A a rapid movement of a millstone that in one moment surpasses the work of a whole day, crushing and causing to vanish the wheat of the soul and its fruit; therefore, one must be heedful. ^B There is a sudden kindle of flame, ignited by a violent wind, which burns and destroys the field of the heart more than a slow-burning fire. Nor ought this to escape us, O friends, that at times the evil spirits withdraw themselves quickly, so that we, having neglected the great passions as if they were small, might suffer from incurable diseases hereafter. As a stone with sharp corners and jagged edges, when struck and rubbed against other stones, has all its sharp, jagged, and hard shape broken away and is made round, so too a sharp and cutting soul, when mixed and living with certain hardened people, undergoes one of two things: either it will heal its own wound through patience, or by withdrawing, it will surely recognize its own weakness, as this cowardly flight will reveal it as if in a mirror. A passionate person is a voluntary epileptic, for though he is seized by the disease against his will, he is nonetheless dashed down, broken, and falls. Nothing is so inappropriate for those who repent as an agitated anger, since repentance requires much humility. And it [anger] is a sign of every conceit. ^C If this is a definition of the highest meekness—to be calm in heart and lovingly disposed toward one who provokes us to anger even when he is present—then certainly this is a definition of the highest anger: to be fighting and behaving like a beast toward the one who has caused us pain, even when one is alone and by oneself, with words and gestures. If the Holy Spirit is defined as and is the peace of the soul, while anger is a disturbance of the heart and is so called, then it follows necessarily that nothing is so prone to block His presence in us as is anger. ^D Knowing that its offspring are very many and grievous, we have recognized one, and one only, that is involuntary, and though it be illegitimate, it is nevertheless useful to us. I have seen some who, having been inflamed with manic fury, have vomited up long-retained and deep-seated grudge, and through a passion have been delivered from a passion: either by receiving repentance or assurance from the one who caused the pain. And I have seen others who seemed to be long-suffering without reason, and who had stored up bitterness inside from their silence, and I judged them more to be pitied than those who were raging, as they had extinguished the whiteness of the dove with the blackness of malice. We have need of much diligence in regard to this matter; for it [anger] has a nature that cooperates with it, just as it does with bodily passions. I have seen some who, having been angered, refused food out of bitterness, and yet they absorbed poison through this irrational abstinence. And I have seen others who, having seized upon a seemingly reasonable excuse for anger, have devised gluttony for themselves, and from a pit—

^A falling into a precipice. I have also observed others, prudent men, who like skilled physicians have combined both things and have benefited greatly from a proportionate exhortation. Sometimes melody best disperses anger, when it is proportionate; but sometimes it combines with pleasure, when it is disproportionate and untimely. Therefore, by regulating the occasions, we have made use of them.

Sitting outside for some need on one occasion, I heard some men living in silence, like partridges in a cell ^B, clamoring and brawling among themselves out of bitterness and anger, and jumping into the face of the one by whom they had been hurt, as if he were present. I piously advised them not to be thus distracted, lest they be transformed from men into demons. And again, I have seen some with lustful and foul hearts who were gentle and fawning, and who were brothers and beautiful in appearance, whom I persuaded to take up silence as a razor against lust and gluttony, lest they be piteously changed from a rational to an irrational nature. And since some told me that they were behaving pitiably in both—I have prevented them from proceeding entirely by their own will. Yet, I have suggested this in a friendly manner to those governing them: that at one time they should permit them to follow this order, and at another time that, but always yielding the neck to the one in command ^C, who controls all things. For the pleasure-seeker is wont to ruin himself, and perhaps also one other fellow-reveler; but the irascible man often disturbs the whole flock like a wolf, and afflicts and crushes many souls. It is not a light sin to disturb the eye of the heart through fury, as he who said testifies: *My eye is troubled by indignation* (Ps. vi, 8), but it is more grievous to express the impulse of the soul in words. And it is far the most grievous—and entirely alien and hostile to the religious, angelic, and divine life—to come to blows. If you wish to heal another’s speck, or rather think you wish to do so, beware lest instead of a lancet, you scrape—or rather, pack down and callous—this beam of yours. The beam is harsh reproach and unseemly gestures. The lancet is kindly instruction and slow, gentle rebuke or admonition. *Reprove*, he says, *rebuke, exhort* (II Tim. iv, 2), but do not strike. And if even this should be necessary, let it be rare, and not by your own hand. We have often noticed, among those who are irascible, a prompt readiness for vigils, fastings, and the practice of silence. For by this art the most cunning enemy, under a pretext of repentance and mourning, increases the matter and throws greater torches upon the anger.

If one person, as we have said, is able like a wolf to disturb a whole religious flock ^D, having acquired a demon as a fellow-worker, surely also one brother who is most wise, like a good skin full of oil, can carry away the wave and cause the whole vessel to become calm, having acquired an angel as a fellow-worker, according to the magnitude of the former judgment; he, receiving a reward from God, becomes a model of benefit to all. The beginning of blessed long-suffering is to accept insults with bitterness and pain of soul. The middle state is to be disposed toward them without pain; and the end, if it even exists, is to account them as praise. Rejoice

^A in the first state, live and be well in the second, and in the third, O happy and blessed one, triumph in the Lord.

I have observed, with sorrow, a spectacle among the irascible, which usually arises from a certain secret swelling of the soul: when, being overcome by anger, they become angry at being overcome. I wondered to see ruin following ruin, and I felt pity for the wretched as I watched how they punished sin with sin; and, struck with amazement at the extreme wickedness of the demons, I nearly despaired of my own life.

If anyone finds that he is easily overcome by pride, quick temper, wickedness, and hypocrisy, and resolves to draw the two-edged sword of meekness and long-suffering against these vices, let him depart and betake himself, as to a purifying fulling-mill of salvation, into a community of brethren, especially the most severe ones, if he truly wishes to cast off these vices completely. Let him go there so that, by being stretched out through the insults, humiliations, and surging waves ^B of the brethren, and by being mentally struck, or perhaps even physically buffeted, trodden upon, and kicked, he may wash away the filth that resides in his soul's senses. Let this common term itself persuade you that mockery is a washing-machine for the passions of the soul. For they say that some people in the world, when they heap indignities upon someone to his face, boast to others, "I have washed such-and-such a man." And this is, in truth, the case.

There is one kind of angerlessness in beginners, which is born of mourning, and another which exists in the perfect, which is immobility; the one is restrained as if by a bridle of tears, while the other is put to death by dispassion as if by a sword.

I myself once saw three monks insulted together: the first felt the sting but suppressed the pain in silence; the second rejoiced for his own sake but was saddened on behalf of the one who had insulted him; the third shed warm tears for the harm befalling his neighbor. It was possible to see there ^C laborers of fear, of reward, and of love.

Just as the fever of the human body is one thing, yet it has many and not just one source of its heat, so too the fever and movement of anger, and of our other passions, have many and various causes; and therefore it is impossible to define them in a single way for all. I suggest rather that in each case the concerned individual should seek the remedy of his own particular ailment. The first remedy would be to recognize the cause of one's own pain, so that once the cause is found, the plaster may be applied to it through the providence of God and the assistance of spiritual physicians. Let those who wish, as if on a model, enter with us into the intellectual and projected tribunal in the Lord, and let us, albeit dimly, examine the aforementioned passions or their causes.

Therefore, let anger be bound like a tyrant in the chains of meekness; and, beaten by long-suffering and dragged along by holy love, let it stand before this tribunal of discourse and be examined on what is appropriate. Tell us, O senseless and unbridled one, the name of him who begot you, and the name of her who gave you birth in evil, and the names of your small sons and daughters; and not only ^D

these, but also ^A of those who are fighting you and killing you, as well as their significance. And he, answering us, said: "Many are they who gave birth to me, and my father is not one alone. My mothers are vainglory, avarice, and gluttony; sometimes fornication is also present; he who begot me is called pride. My daughters are resentment, hatred, enmity, and self-justification. But my adversaries, by whom I am now held prisoner, are the virtues that oppose these, namely, freedom from anger and meekness. She who plots against me is called humility; as to who gave birth to her, ask her at the proper time."

In the eighth stage lies the crown of freedom from anger. He who possesses a mild temperament by nature, perhaps may not obtain this crown; but he who has conquered anger through his own sweat, he is the one who has truly emerged victorious over all the previous stages of the virtues up to the eighth.

SCHOLIA ON STAGE VIII

On the victory over anger

Scholion of Abba Isaiah 1

Scholion 2

Scholion 3

Scholion 4 of Saint Maximus

^A His end, however, is eternal life, as the Apostle bears witness when he says: "This is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent." Even if a brother per机会 continues to speak evil of you, do not you, for your part, be moved out of the state of charity by the evil one who troubles your mind; and you will not be moved out of it if, while being reviled, you bless, and if, while being plotted against, you show goodwill. This is the path of the philosophy according to God, and he who does not walk upon it is not a dweller with Him. For through turbulent and darkening resentment, he has extinguished and destroyed the inner tranquility and peace of the thoughts, in which the Spirit of God finds rest.

^B Another. A dove is that virtue which exists in the soul through clear charity, which is exterminated by the malice of spite: for there is no communion between light and darkness, nor between Christ and Belial.

Scholion 5. Sadness is yoked and bound up with the remembrance of injuries; when, therefore, the mind reflects on the face of a brother with sadness, it is certain that it harbors resentment against him. The ways of those who remember injuries lead to death; therefore, he who retains injuries inflicted upon him in his mind is iniquitous and a violator of the divine law.

^C Scholion 6. He who seemingly perseveres with patience but stores up silence for a time of vengeance, thereby destroys his patience through resentment; which is a proof of irrationality.

Another, of Gregory of Nyssa. Do you yourself reason as to what kind of life is led by those who contend with one another through suspicion and hatred: their meetings are unpleasant and hateful, all things between them are odious and execrable, their mouths are mute, their countenances turned away; their ears are closed to the voice of either the one who hates or the one who is hated; and all that is pleasant to one of them is unpleasant to the other; and, conversely, all that is hostile and odious to the one is pleasant and acceptable to the other.

^D Scholion 7. In a house swept clean, the spirits of wickedness dwell, and in the solitude or desert, through occasion, the wild beasts of the passions make their lair; these, while they seize upon the inexperienced who think they are walking the path of the virtues, demonstrate the state of their own disposition.

Another, of Dorotheus. It is not appropriate, at that very time when a brother offends against you, to correct him; nor, indeed, at any other time for the sake of one's own vengeance.

Scholion 8. The wise man, adorned with justice, is like to God; he never punishes the sinner to the extent of his destruction, but rather

seeks that the man be corrected, or that others may be filled with fear; if his chastisement is not of this kind, it is no discipline. ^A

Scholion 9 of Saint Antony. We must not be angry with those who sin, even if the crimes they have committed are worthy of punishment; rather, we ought to lead back those who stumble, for the sake of justice itself, and to punish them—if such be the case—either by our own hands or by the hands of others. But we must not be angry or lose our temper, since anger does nothing but act in a disturbed and vicious way, and not according to judgment and equity. Therefore, those who have mercy on others beyond what is right and just are not to be approved of, for justice resides in the good itself; the wicked must be punished, and not out of our own passion of anger. ^B

Scholion 10. The meek man produces tranquility and serenity of life both for himself and for his neighbors; anger, however, has rendered many fierce and obstinate—especially those who are prone to wrath.

Scholion 11. Read, brother, the *Hexaemeron* of Basil the Great, and there you will find that which is wonderfully explained concerning oil and the waves. Here, however, as I believe, the author of the Ladder interprets allegorically what was said concerning the raging sea; he takes the body for the flask, meekness for the oil, the swelling and ferocity for the waves, and the brother or the brotherhood for the ship. ^C

Scholion 12. David was angry against Nabal, and it is not because he was angry that he is angry again, but because he gave thanks and blessed Abigail (his wife), who kept his hands from blood. Thus, there is an anger that arises from vicious perturbation, and there is an anger that is without vice. There is the anger of one who reproaches himself for having acted without anger, and there is the anger of one who is angry with himself because he flared up in passion or was carried away by the impulse of his own wrath. Anger and repentance are therefore various, as you will learn upon reading.

Scholion 13. One, having been exercised in the midst of the struggle of disturbances, has learned to be silent; another is troubled by the noise of chains, as if he had been a cause of scandal to another; a third, wanting to destroy an evil passion, mourns for the salvation of his brother, compensating by charity for the ignominy that has been brought about. Another, truly, even with the noise or rattling of chains—or indeed, so despising vicious passions that he restricts them with certain light bonds (because he himself despises them)—does this either by prayer or by mere warning. ^D

GRADUS IX. On the Abridgment of the Remembrance of Injuries.

The holy virtues, in the degrees of Jacob’s ladder, are...

^A likened to the chain which fell from Peter, the prince of the apostles. Thus, the former, linked one to another, lead those who choose to heaven; the latter, however, are by nature such that they beget and strengthen one another. Therefore, we have now heard the irrational anger, which said that the remembrance of injuries is its own genuine offspring; hence, since the occasion now invites us, let us speak of it. The remembrance of injuries is the termination of anger, the guard of sins, the medium of injustice, the loss of virtues, and a worm of the soul, a rot of the mind, the shame of prayer, the interruption of supplication, an estrangement of love, a nail fixed in the soul, a painless feeling in the sweetness of bitterness, a continuous sin, a wakeful illegality, and a hidden malice. This, too, is a dark and disagreeable passion—I mean that of the remembrance of injuries, of those which are begotten and do not beget, or even those which do beget; hence, I do not wish to say much about it. ^B He who has ceased from anger has abolished the remembrance of injuries; for while the father is alive, he begets children. He who has acquired love has exiled the resentment; he who harbors enmity gathers for himself untimely hardships. A table without warning is a mother of boldness, and through the windows of love, gluttony will leap in. I have seen hatred shatter a long-standing bond of fornication, and the remembrance of injuries keep one there unbound for the future, in a marvelous manner—a wondrous spectacle, to see a demon healed by a demon. But this is perhaps the work of God, who manages things economically, and not of demons. The remembrance of injuries is far from natural love, yet fornication easily approaches it; and secretly it resembles a moth in a garment, destroying it. He who remembers injuries remembers with demons, and through all things he shows enmity to his body. ^C The flesh is an ungrateful and deceitful friend; even when it is cared for, it does more harm. A teacher of remembrance of injuries is a scriptural interpreter who allegorizes the sayings of the Spirit for his own interpretation. Let the prayer of Jesus put him to shame, which we cannot say together with Him. Whenever, after struggling much, you are unable to dissolve the wall [of enmity], repent towards your enemy, even if only by word of mouth, so that, by being ashamed of your long-standing hypocrisy toward him, you may be completely pricked by your conscience as if by fire; then you will know that you have been delivered from this putrefaction. It is not when you pray for the one who has harmed you, nor when you reward him with gifts, nor when you invite him to your table; but it is when you hear that he has suffered some misfortune of the soul or body, and you are ^D pained and weep for him as if for yourself. The monk who remembers injuries is a lurking viper, carrying the poison of death within himself; it is a tomb of passions. Jesus shall heal the remembrance of injuries, putting it to strong shame by His own long-suffering. Worms are generated within rotten wood; and resentment attaches itself to the humblest and quietest of the pseudo-venerable. He who casts it off has found forgiveness, but he who clings to it is deprived of mercy. Some have given themselves over to toils and sweat for the sake of forgiveness; but a man who does not remember injuries...

is ahead of them, for the word of Christ is most true: "Forgive, and it shall be forgiven you" ^A in abundance. To be free from harboring grudges is the sign of sincere repentance; but he who retains one while thinking he is repenting is like a man who dreams that he is running. I have seen those who harbor grudges against others act as counselors on the subject of forgiving injuries; by their own words and by the shame they felt, they put an end to the passion. Let no one imagine that this is a simple passion ^B or a light matter; for it is often wont to penetrate even to the hearts of spiritual men.

The ninth step: he who has attained this may now securely ask from Jesus, the author of salvation, the remission of his own sins.

SCHOLIA TO STEP IX. On the memory of injuries.

Scholion 1. Observe carefully how the Father has arranged this chapter. He compared the virtues to the rungs of a ladder, because they lift one on high; for it is clear that whoever climbs a ladder is being carried upward. But he likened the vices to a heavy chain, on account of their weight, I suppose, and because they are always dragging the one bound by them downward, or do not permit him to act or initiate anything freely. ^C And this is true; for a vice is accustomed to press so heavily upon a man's heart that at times he does not even feel the most grievous sufferings. By those words, "falling from the hands," he indicated in some measure that it is possible, if we are willing, to cast it off through the fervor of faith. And this may be known from the example of St. Peter, which he has brought forward, and not of another; for it is certain that he was more fervent than all others in faith, or perhaps also because of his repentance.

Scholion 2. For when in the Lord's Prayer we say, "Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive," ^D and we do not forgive, we bring shame upon ourselves as our conscience reproves us, just as he himself says in his explanation: Let the prayer of the Lord Jesus put them to shame, and what follows.

Scholion 3. Whether of things generated or things generating: for the remembrance of injuries is generated by anger; and anger, together with pride and haughtiness, generates the remembrance of injuries; this in turn creates envy and murders.

Scholion 4. I saw such a memory of injuries there, which tied in itself...

^A freed him completely from impurity and absolved him together with her from [their] chains: for while it easily insinuates itself into those who love, it remains as far as possible from those who hate.

Scholion 5. The louse vexes and ruins the dove: luxury destroys and abolishes love.

Scholion 6. Let him who owed the ten thousand talents teach you that unless you remit to your debtor, neither will you obtain forgiveness; for, he says, he delivered him to the tormentors.

Another. There are five modes of repentance: detestation of the sins committed, remitting sins to one’s neighbor, ^B to pray, to show mercy, and to humble oneself.

Scholion of Saint Nilus 7. It behooves him who does not do good things to speak [them], so that he may begin, feeling ashamed in his words for his deeds.

GRADUS X. Concerning Detraction.

No one of sound mind, I suppose, would deny that detraction is born from hatred and the remembrance of injuries; hence it is placed correctly in succession after its own begetters. ^C Detraction is the offspring of hatred; a subtle disease, yet a thick, hidden, and lurking leech, draining and exhausting the blood of love; a simulation of love; a provider of filth and weight to the heart; a destruction of purity. Just as there are young women who act in their wickedness unashamedly, while there are others who do so secretly and more modestly, but who commit crimes far more grievous than the former; so too is it possible to see this in the passions of ignominy. There are many such treacherous young women: hypocrisy, malice, sadness, the remembrance of injuries, and the detraction of the heart—which pretend one thing in appearance, but look toward and act toward another. I once heard ^D some detracting, and I was struck; and to this the workers of evil answered in their own defense, as if they were doing this out of love and concern for the person being detracted. But I said to them: "Cease, I say, from such love, lest he who said it be proven a liar: 'Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, him I have persecuted' (Ps. CI, 5). If you claim to love him, pray in secret and do not mock the man; for this mode is acceptable before the Lord." Nor should this escape your notice, and you will completely abstain from judging the one who stumbles. Judas was in the choir of the disciples, and the thief was in the choir of murderers; and it is a wonder how in one moment the reversal took place. If anyone wishes to overcome the spirit of detraction, let him not ascribe the blame to the one who sins, but to the demon who suggests it; for no one wishes to sin against God, even if everyone among us is found to be subject to compulsion. I have seen one who sinned openly, and one who repented secretly, and whom I condemned as a fornicator,

but who was already regarded by God as temperate and chaste, since through sincere amendment he had rendered God propitious to himself. Do not respect anyone who speaks ill of another to you, but say to the slanderer: "Be silent, brother; I daily commit graver sins, and how can I condemn him?" By one remedy you will ^A obtain two results: you will save yourself, and heal your neighbor. This is also the shortest path that leads to the remission of sins, I mean, "not to judge." For "if you do not judge, you will not be judged." As fire is contrary to water, so the desire to judge everyone is contrary to him who wishes to repent of his own sins from the heart. Even if you see someone sinning at the very moment of his departure, do not condemn him, for the judgment of God is hidden to men. Some have committed great sins openly, but have performed greater good works in secret; and those mockers of others were greatly deceived, having embraced smoke for the sun. Hear me, hear me, all you wicked censors of the deeds of others, if the voice of Christ is true—as it is most true—that "with what judgment you judge, you will be judged," then in whatever matters we blame our neighbor, in those same we will fall; it cannot be otherwise, whether they be bodily or spiritual matters. Those who are easy and sharp in assessing the transgressions of their neighbor suffer from this condition because they have not yet acquired a perfect, certain, and fixed memory and concern for their own failings. For if anyone were to accurately contemplate his own sins, stripped of the veil of self-love, he would no longer concern himself with any other human matter, considering that his own time does not suffice for him to wash away his own sins, even if he were to live a hundred years, and even if he were to see the whole river Jordan flowing in tears from his own eyes. I have observed true mourning, and I found in it no trace of detraction, or of rash judgment, or of condemnation. Our enemy, the demons, either incite us to sin, or, if they cannot do this, at least to judge those who do sin, so that through the second they may attain the first, and defile and kill us by the sin of homicide. ^C Know also that this is a mark of those who harbor injuries and are envious: that, being imbued with a spirit of hatred, they easily and willingly calumniate the doctrine, deeds, and virtues of others. I have observed some who secretly and without witness perform unspeakable wickedness, yet, in their own opinion, they are holy and pure from crimes, and most severely threaten those who err publicly even in small matters. To judge another is a shameless usurpation of divine honor; to condemn is the immediate destruction of one's own soul. Just as pride can destroy a man even without any other vice, so judging, in itself and alone, is sufficient to destroy us utterly, since that Pharisee was condemned for this very thing. As the good grape-gatherer, eating the ripe grapes, will not bother to gather the sour ones, so the grateful and sensible mind will eagerly note what virtues it finds in others; but the foolish mind will explore their censures and defects, concerning whom it is also written: "They have searched out iniquity, ^D and have failed in their search." By not seeing with one's own eyes, he condemned—

for, not infrequently, even they have themselves been deceived. ^A

The tenth step: he who has conquered it is a worker of love and is established in mourning.

SCHOLIA ON STEP TEN

On Detraction

Scholion 1

Scholion 2

Another.

Scholion of Abba Isaiah, 3.

Scholion of Photius of Constantinople, 4.

Another.

Another, of Isaac.

and your words are transferred into his mind to serve as matter and reason for his own malady. ^A

STEP XI. Concerning loquacity and silence.

It has been briefly explained in the previous chapter how full of danger it is, and how it sometimes creeps in even upon those who seem religious, this vice of judging others—or rather, of being judged ourselves, and being punished by our own tongue. It remains for us, therefore, to now open the cause and, in order, to show the door through which this vice enters, or rather, departs. Loquacity is the seat of vainglory, through which it is accustomed to show itself off and lead itself onto a stage and theater. Loquacity is the mark of ignorance, the door to slander, the guide to buffoonery, the minister of falsehood, the destroyer of compunction, the caller of sloth, the precursor of sleep, the scattering of concentration, the destruction of guarding the heart, a refrigerator and freezing-cold for divine fervor, the languor or rather the extinction of prayer; ^B but prudent silence is the parent of prayer, liberation from captivity, the guardian of divine ardor, the watcher of thoughts, the scout against the enemy, a prison for grief, a lover of tears, a diligent worker of the memory of death, a painter of eternal punishments, a curious observer of judgment, a minister of salutary sadness, an enemy of excessive confidence, the spouse of religious quiet, an opponent of ambitious teaching, an increase of knowledge, a creator of contemplation, a hidden progress in virtues, a secret ascent to God. He who recognizes his own falls easily masters his tongue; the man who is verbose has not yet sufficiently descended into self-knowledge. He who is studious of silence is familiar with God, and in a certain secret way, while he converses familiarly with Him, he is illuminated by God. The silence of Jesus moved Pilate to reverence for Him; and rest from speech cuts the nerves of vainglory. ^C When Peter spoke a word, he wept bitterly, forgetting Him who said: "I said: I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue" (Ps. XXXVIII, 2); and the other who held it better to fall from a height to the ground than to offend with the tongue. I refrain from saying more about these things, although many of the wiles of the vices urge me to do so. Indeed, I heard from a certain trustworthy man who, speaking with me about the silence of the mouth, affirmed that loquacity arises entirely from one of these sources: either from a wicked and intemperate life and habit (for since the tongue is a natural member of the body, what it has learned, it subsequently chatters out of habit—like a parrot), or in those who are engaged in asceticism, most of all from vainglory; there is also a time when it arises from gluttony of the belly. ^D Therefore, not a few, and not rarely, having restrained the belly through abstinence, have by a certain force and weakness likewise constrained the tongue and loquacity, and within the barrier of the teeth—

^A they have confined it. He who meditates always upon the departure from life has already pruned his tongue. He who has provided himself with true mourning for his soul flees from vain fables as if from fire; he who loves solitude has already guarded his mouth. He who delights in wandering outside his cell is pushed outside by this very vice of loquacity. He who has smelled the odor of the heavenly fire, or divine love, hates the gathering of men just as a bee hates smoke: for the smoke plagues the bee, while the crowd and throngs of men put the man to flight and pursue him. It is difficult to restrain water without floodgates; it is more difficult to rein in and tame the tongue and the intemperance of the mouth.

He who has ascended the eleventh step has at the same time mowed down the harvest of his vices with one stroke of the sickle.

SCHOLIA ON STEP XI. On loquacity and silence.

^B *Scholion 1.* To those who are being judged by the judging. For if the mind goes outside, abandoning its own concerns and observing those of others, it does not arrive at judging itself.

*Scholion 2.* Silence with knowledge not only protects one from enemies, but does not even allow them to draw near.

*Another Scholion.* Having set forth the doors through which one goes out to judge, he now shows also those through which one enters; for just as loquacity led him out, so also does silence with knowledge lead him in again.

*Scholion 3.* If you guard your tongue, brother, there is given to you by God the grace of contrition of heart, in order to behold your soul within it, and in this you shall enter into the joy of the Spirit; but if your tongue overcomes and defeats you, believe me in what I say to you: you will never be able to emerge from the darkness of the mind.

*Another.* If you do not have a pure heart, at least take pains to have a pure mouth.

*Scholion 4.* For the guile of the passions often encourages us to discourse passionately about the passions—that is, about loquacity, about silence, and about other such things—to which I will not assent, for I do not endure to talk at length about silence. ^C

*Scholion 5.* Just as rare, and altogether few, are those who are able to restrain the force of water, having first built dams—for how else?—so too are fewer those who are able to tame an unrestrained mouth. For by a dam water is restrained, and by self-control the tongue is bound. ^D

STEP XII. On lying.

Fire is the produce of iron and stone; but lying is the produce of loquacity and buffoonery. Lying is the destruction of love; but perjury is the denial of God.

Let no man of sound mind think that the sin of lying is a trivial thing, for the All-Holy Spirit has passed a judgment ^A more terrible against this than against any other vice. If Thou shalt destroy all those who speak a lie, as David testifies in his address to God (Ps. V, 7), what then shall become of those who confirm their lies with oaths? I have observed some who pride themselves on their lying and, through buffoonery and empty talk, weave jests; and they pitifully quench the contrition of those who are listening to them and are weeping in piety. Whenever the demons see us desiring to withdraw, as if from a pestilential disease, from the hearing of the cruel instructor of such scurrilous facetiousness, they then attempt to ensnare us with two thoughts, ^B as if they were true reasons: "Do not grieve the narrator," they suggest to us; or, "Do not wish to appear more holy than the others who are present; escape quickly, do not delay." If you do not do this, ridiculous phantasms of the mind will occur to you during your prayers. Nay, do not merely flee, but with whatever pious art you can, dissolve that wicked gathering by introducing mention of death and judgment. For it is better that one person be perhaps sprinkled with some light stain of vainglory than that you should be the cause of benefit to all. Hypocrisy ^C is the parent of lying, and often its argument and matter as well. For there are those who define hypocrisy as nothing other than the cogitation or meditation and, as it were, the craftsman of lying, which has lying joined and connected with itself. He who is imbued with the fear of God is a stranger to lying, for he has his own conscience as an incorruptible judge. Just as in all other diseases of the soul we discern the difference by the damage done, so it is also with lying. For one judgment awaits him who lies out of fear of punishment, and another awaits him who dares to lie when no danger of punishment is proposed. There is one who lies for the sake of pleasure; another for the sake of luxury; another who lies out of urbanity to move others to laughter; and another who, through a lie, knits a snare for another, so as to smite him with some harm. Magistrates ^D drive out lying through torments, but it is extinguished entirely by an inundation of tears. He who utters a lie makes excuses of dispensations and interprets the destruction of souls as justice. The architect of a lie affirms that he is following the example of Rahab the harlot (Josue II, 1, seqq.), and while he destroys himself, he testifies that he is procuring the salvation of others. When we feel ourselves free from all vanity of lying, only then, when place and usage demand it—not without fear, however—will it be permitted to cautiously interject a lie. An infant knows not how to lie, so too is a soul pure from all wickedness of malice. Just as one exhilarated by wine, even against his will, says the truth in all things, so also he who is intoxicated with the tears of compunction will not be able to lie.

Whoever has surmounted this twelfth step has laid the foundation of all virtues.

SCHOLIA ON STEP XII. On Lying.

^AScholion 1. "Audientes" (hearers): This is a certain degree for those who come to repentance, who are also called "prosklaiontes" (those who weep outside), standing outside the doors of the church, and through sincere repentance and extreme mourning seeking their recall; those who, through ridiculous behavior, fall away from the good work.

Scholion 2. Whoever speaks one thing but has another in his heart due to malice, his entire piety and divine service is in vain. Do not associate with such a one, lest you be defiled by his impure poison.

Scholion 3. The hypocrite, as long as he seems hidden, appears just while hunting for glory based on public opinion; but when he is caught, he resorts to deadly words, thinking to cover his own shame with calumnies against others. The Word of God, having likened such a one to a brood of vipers and a crafty old man, commands him to produce fruits worthy of repentance; that is, to transform the hidden disposition of his heart to match his outward appearance.

Scholion 4. Loving the glory of men gives birth to lying. But to overthrow it through humility makes the fear of God greater in your heart.

Scholion 5. Teach your tongue to speak the words of God in knowledge, and lying will flee from you.

Scholion 6. According to the variety of lies and judgments, so is the discourse. For lying arises from pleasure, or wit, or deceit, or hypocrisy; or it arises when the occasion calls for it for the sake of another’s salvation, persuading the truthful person to change a word, or a manner, or a project. You have the examples of Rahab, David, and Samuel: changing the word, as Rahab did; the manner, as David did; and the project, as Samuel did regarding the anointing of David.

STEP XIII. On Acedia (Listlessness).

This is often one of the branches of loquacity, as we have already said, and its first descendant—I mean acedia (listlessness). Therefore, the place assigned to it in the order of the wicked chain we have bestowed upon it. Acedia is a relaxation of the soul...

^A a loosening of the mind, a neglect of religious exercise, a hatred of one’s profession, a praiser of worldly things, and a slanderer of God, as if He were harsh and unmerciful. It is listless in sacred psalmody, weak in prayer, iron-like in services, energetic in manual labor, and feigned in obedience. An obedient man knows not what laziness is, for he perfects the mind through external actions. A cenobium is opposed to acedia, but for the hesychast it is a lifelong spouse; it will not depart from him before his death, and before his end it will wrestle with him daily. When it sees an anchorite’s cell, it smiles, and approaching near to him, it takes up residence. ^B A physician visits the sick in the morning; but acedia visits those practicing the ascetic life around midday. Acedia delights in the arrival of guests, and it urges the anchorite to do something worthwhile so that he might give alms; it encourages him to visit the sick diligently, reminding him of what Christ said: "I was sick and you visited me." It urges us to go to the desperate and the faint-hearted, suggesting that the faint-hearted should be consoled, while it is itself faint-hearted. During prayer, it suggests certain business as if it were necessary, and leaves no stone unturned to drag us away from prayer with this foolish halter, pretending to be wise. Three hours before dinner, the spirit of acedia tempts ^C the religious, and it torments them now with chills, now with headache, now with fever, and now with dizziness. As the ninth hour draws near (which is the third hour of the afternoon for us), it recovers slightly. But when the table is set, it leaps out of bed; when the time for prayer returns, the body again languishes with heaviness. In the very midst of prayer, it plunges the monk into sleep, and through untimely yawning snatches the verse from the mouth of the one pallid with fatigue. Other passions are each weakened by one specific virtue. But acedia is a comprehensive death to the monk; a noble soul raises up a dead mind, but acedia and sloth scatter the whole treasure of virtue. Since this is one of the eight capital sins, and the heaviest of them all, it ^D must be treated according to their order, and we shall deal with it here. Yet we must also add this: when the singing of psalms is omitted, acedia does not appear, but when the rule is completed, the eyes are opened. In the time of acedia, the violent are revealed; for nothing bestows crowns upon a monk like the struggle with acedia. Observe it, and you will find it wrestling in the standing of the feet; it decides to recline on a chair, and urges one to lean against the wall of the cell, making noises and striking the floor with the feet; he who mourns his soul knows not acedia. Let this tyrant also be bound by the memory of one's sins, and let it be struck by manual labor; let it be dragged away by the contemplation of future goods, and standing as if before a tribunal, let it be questioned as is proper: "Come, confess, you slacker, who is it that has been mistreating you? Who are your offspring? Who are those warring against you? And who is your slayer?" And it says: "In those who are truly obedient, I have nowhere to lay my head; but in those in whom I have a place, I dwell with them in silence. My callers, however, are many...

^A Sometimes there is a certain stupor of soul; at other times, a forgetfulness of things above; and there are times when it is an excess of labors. My descendants, born with me from frequent changes of place, are disobedience to a religious father, forgetfulness of judgment, and sometimes the neglect of vows. Those who now hold me bound are psalmody and labor; my enemy is the meditation of death. But that which utterly destroys and slays me is prayer with a firm hope for future blessings." As to who brought forth this prayer, ask it yourselves.

The thirteenth victory, which he who has truly attained in all things has shown himself a man proven in goodness. ^B

SCHOLIA ON GRADUS XIII. On Sloth or Acedia. Scholion 1.

Sloth, or acedia, dominates during prayers and the chanting of psalms; it rises up, and yet it is broken and thwarted in services, manual labor, and physical work; it makes the sluggish—those who are warred upon by it—bold, yet it renders them slack toward those whom it has already triumphed over.

Another, by Thalassius: Acedia is a lack of soul; for the soul that is impoverished is one that suffers from a desire for pleasures.

Another: He who loves Jesus exercises himself in labors, while patience in labors drives away acedia. Acedia arises from the elation of the mind, and elation arises from a vacation from labors, and from reading, and from vain conversation, or from a belly that is full. ^C

Scholion 2.

While a passion has not yet reached the stage of a habit, the enemies press and insist upon it vehemently; but when it has become a habit through custom, they temper the battle. For custom promptly carries out the things it likes; therefore, they withdraw from those they have defeated (that is, from their own), but they most bitterly attack those who resist and struggle against them. Since, therefore, it is difficult to overcome, it rises up most strongly against those who are devoted to prayers, psalmody, and the solitary life, attacking them with all its weapons and power—and it is then that it even conquers.

Scholion 3.

Persevere in the place where you reside, struggling against negligence; for you will not soothe your passions by movement and change of place, ^D but by the attention of the mind. We have need of patience, so that by doing the will of God we may receive the promises. But he who is driven about by acedia is far removed from patience, just as a sick man is far from health. Therefore, virtue is not recognized in acedia, but in patience; and patience, being renewed, is strengthened in the

soul, as the mind is occupied with the contemplation and meditation ^A of future goods. For from thence the mind, being nourished, borrows and derives its strength, just as the body does from material and sensible foods.

Scholion 4. If you dwell upon the commandments of the Lord with an ^B ardent heart, you will notice those who disturb you and for what reason they do so; they lead you by your negligence to choose a place devoid of vice, yet we remain there led by repentance. For they disturb the mind so that, being elevated (by pride), it may give itself over to idleness; but those who know the tricks and the wickedness of the enemies remain untroubled, and give thanks to God, that He has granted them patience to withstand the force of the enemies: for patience, and persevering equanimity, and charity in labors and hardships, themselves offer thanks to God. Acedia, however, and negligence, and the love of tranquility seek a place where they may be praised and celebrated: for from the praise and glory of many, their senses grow diseased, and they are eventually taken captive by the victorious passions and vices, and lose their secret abstinence through pride and satiety.

Scholion 5. Clear faith in God, and hope of obtaining divine promises, and perfect charity joined to customary abstinence, beget a prayer that is always intent and nowhere wandering.

GRADUS XIV. On gluttony, which is grateful to all, yet an evil mistress of the belly.

About to speak of gluttony, if ever at other times, now especially we resolve to philosophize against ourselves. For I consider it a miracle if any person, before death and the grave, has liberated himself from this mistress. Gluttony is a hypocrisy of the belly, which, though sated, yet denies that it is full, and though distended and stuffed and nearly bursting, cries out that it is still hungry. Gluttony is the inventor of condiments, the fountain of delicacies; you have blunted one vein (of lust), and it surges forth from elsewhere (through gluttony); you have killed this one, and you are defeated by another. Gluttony is a deception of the eyes; having received moderate means, it thinks it must devour everything at once. Satiety of food is the parent of lust: the affliction of the belly is the conciliator of chastity. The tamer has often made a lion ^D tame by stroking it; but he who has pampered the body has often only made it more savage. The Jew rejoices in the Sabbath and the feast day: the gluttonous monk in the Sabbath and the Lord's Day. He counts the days before Easter, and prepares dishes before the time. The slave of the belly thinks with what luxuries of food he might spend the feast day: the servant of God (thinks) what treasures of heavenly graces he might wish to acquire for himself. Upon the arrival of some traveler, he is all poured out into charity out of gluttony, and interprets his own license as the consolation of another. In the presence of guests, he thinks that wine should be poured for him: but while he seems to want to hide the virtue of temperance, he has become a slave of intemperance. Vainglory and gluttony frequently wage hostilities among themselves, and they dispute over the wretched monk;

one urges him to break his fast, the other urges him to triumph or boast of his virtue through abstinence. But the cautious religious man avoids both rocks, and in its proper time, he repels one by means of the other. While the body is still unruly ^A (due to age and desire), let us afflict the flesh at every time and place through fasting; but when this has been calmed—which I do not believe happens before the grave—we shall hide our own efforts. I have seen ^B elderly priests mocked by demons, who, in social gatherings, relax or corrupt with wine and other things those young men not subject to them, under the guise of an auspicious prayer or blessing. But if those elders are attested to be in the Lord, let us relax moderately; if they are negligent, let us pay no heed to their blessing, especially if we happen to be still struggling in the heat of battle against the flesh. The god-driven Evagrius ^C thought himself wiser than the wise in both speech and thought; but the wretch was deceived, proving himself more foolish than the foolish. In many things, indeed, but in this as well: for he says, "When our soul desires various kinds of food, let it be emaciated with bread and water." He has commanded something similar to one who would tell a child to ascend the whole ladder in a single step. Therefore, averting his definition, we shall say: When our soul desires various foods, it is seeking what is proper to animal nature; therefore, we will use artifice against the arch-artful one; if not, a most heavy war stands before us, or we shall be guilty of a fall. Let us cut away for a time the fattening foods; then those that inflame, and then those that give pleasure. If possible, give your stomach food that satisfies and is easy to digest, so that by satiety we may remove its insatiable intent, and through rapid digestion, we may be delivered from the burning as if by a lash. Let us examine also the many who are spiritual, and we shall find them moving. Laugh at the demon who, after supper, suggests that you delay your accustomed time for taking food; for when the ninth hour approaches, he violates the pact you made earlier. ^D There is one kind of temperance suitable for the innocent, and another for the guilty; for the former possess the movement of the body as a sign, while the latter are disposed toward this until death and the end, without reprieve and without cessation. The former always wish to preserve the composure of the mind; the latter propitiate God through the sorrow and melting of the soul. There is a time of joy and consolation; for the perfect man, it is freedom from care in all things; for the struggler, it is a time of battle; for the one overwhelmed by passions, it is the feast of feasts and the festival of festivals. Dreams of food and meals are in the heart of the gluttonous; but dreams of punishments and judgment are in the heart of those who mourn. Master your stomach before it masters you, and then you shall practice temperance without shame. Those who have fallen into the unspeakable pit know what is said; but eunuchs are untried by this. Let us surround the stomach with the thought of fire; for some, having obeyed this, have eventually cut off their own limbs and suffered a double death. Let us search, and we shall certainly find it to be the one thing working the shipwrecks amongst us. The mind of the faster prays with sobriety;

whereas the mind of the intemperate is filled and mocked by impure phantom images. The gluttony and satiety of the belly drain the fountains (of graces); yet, when exhausted, it creates waters. Whoever serves his belly, and meanwhile attempts to conquer the spirit of lust, acts like one who tries to extinguish a fire with oil. When the belly is afflicted, the heart lowers the wings of pride; but when it is fattened, thoughts exult 206. Examine yourself at the first hour, at midday, and at the last hour before dinner, and from this you will learn the fruit of fasting. At the first hour of the day, thoughts still leap forth alert; at the sixth hour, at midday indeed, they gradually remit; finally, as the sun sets, they are utterly weakened and collapse. Curb your gluttony, and enclose your tongue within your mouth; for by an abundance of food, the tongue gains strength and is invigorated. With as much force as you can, fight against the belly, and strive through sobriety against it; for if you have struggled even a little, you will immediately feel the help of the Lord. Softened skins are loosened and take in more than usual, whereas those left uncared for and dry take in less. He who gorges himself stretches his innards, but he who studies to live temperately restricts them; when restricted, they take in but little, and thenceforth nature itself will render us abstemious. Thirst sometimes extinguishes thirst, but to drive out hunger with hunger is difficult and impossible by any reasoning. If ever gluttony overcomes you, tame it with labors; if, however, you cannot do this on account of infirmity, at least set upon it with sleepless vigils. Let labor succeed eyes that are already weary. But when sleep does not compel you, do not cease from work. For no one can serve God and mammon, ^D that is, be able to direct his mind simultaneously toward God and toward chores. Nor should this be ignored, that the evil spirit of gluttony ^A periodically sits in the stomach, and causes a man not to be sated, even if he were to devour all of Egypt and drink up the River Nile. After the belly is filled, the impious one departs, and sends upon us the spirit of impurity, having explained to it the condition of the fattened belly. "Occupy him," he says, "and disturb him." For the stomach [(15)], when sated, has dried up the springs; but this, when dried, has given birth to waters. Whoever seeks to heal his own [(16)] stomach, and wishes to conquer the spirit of lust, is like one who extinguishes a fire with oil. When the belly is distressed, the heart is humbled; but when it is being pampered, the mind grows arrogant. Feel yourself about the middle, and at the last hour before eating; and from this you will learn the benefit of fasting. The mind leaps indeed in the morning and draws near; but when the sixth hour arrives, it has slackened a little, and at the sunset it is finally humbled. Distress [(17)] your belly, and you will assuredly close your mouth as well; for the tongue is nerved by a multitude of foods. Boxing, box against it [or towards it], and being sober, be sober toward it; for if you toil but a little, the Lord will immediately cooperate. Softened skins lend themselves to filling, but those disregarded ^B do not take in so much; he who compels his belly, expands his intestines; but he who struggles against it, has tightened them; and these being tightened, they will not hold much; and then at last we become naturally fasting. Thirst has often quenched thirst; but to cut off hunger with hunger is difficult and impossible. Whenever it conquers you, tame it with pains; but if even this is impossible due to weakness, wrestle against it with insomnia. When eyes are weighed down, take up some manual work; and when sleep is not present, do not touch it [i.e., food]; for it is impossible for God and mammon, that is, for God and manual work [(18)], to have the mind present. Know that the demon often sits on the stomach, and prepares the man not to be filled, even if he should eat all of Egypt and drink the Nile river. After the meal, the unholy one departs, and sends us the one of fornication, having reported to him what has happened; "Seize him," he says, "trouble him; for when the belly is loaded, you will be exhausted." Having come, he smiled, and with sleep will bind our hands and feet; then he has done all else that he wished, having defiled the soul and body with pollutions, and fantasies, and discharges. It is a wonder to behold an incorporeal mind being defiled and darkened by a body; and again, through mud, being cleansed and refined. If you have purposed to walk the narrow and constricted way with Christ, constrict your belly; for if this is coddled and expanded, you have broken your covenants. Examine, and you will hear Him who says [(19)]: "Broad and spacious is the way of the belly, which leads to the destruction of fornication; and many are they who enter through it." How [(20)] narrow is the gate and constricted is the way of fasting, which leads into the life of purity, and few are those who enter through it! The prince of demons is the fallen Lucifer; and the prince of passions is the throat of the belly; reclining at a table of foods, bring into the midst the remembrance of death and judgment; for with difficulty, even in this way, will you obstruct a small passion. When drinking a beverage, of the vinegar and the gall of the ^C

^A Master, do not cease thinking; and you will certainly either practice restraint, or will groan, or will humble your mind. Do not be deceived, you will not be delivered from Pharaoh, nor will you behold the Passover above, unless you eat bitter herbs and unleavened bread throughout your life. Bitter herbs are the violence and labor of fasting; unleavened bread is a mind that is not puffed up. Let the word of him who says, "But as for me, when they troubled me, I put on sackcloth, and humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer shall turn into my own bosom" (Ps. XXXIV, 13), be glued to your breathing.

Fasting is a violence of nature, a circumcision of the gullet's delight, a cutting off of burning desire, an excision of evil thoughts, freedom from dreams, purity of prayer, a light for the soul, a guard for the mind, a loosening of blindness, a door for compunction, a humble sigh, a joyful contrition, a ceasing of chatter, a cause of stillness, a guardian of obedience, a lightening of sleep, health of the body, a dispenser of dispassion, a remission of sins. Let us demand of this—or rather, before all these, of the commander of our evils, the enemy of the virtues, the door of the passions, the fall of Adam, the destruction of Esau, the ruin of the Israelites, the shame of Noah, the betrayer of the Gomorrah-dwellers, the reproach of Lot, the destruction of the children of the priest Eli, the guide of pollutions—where is it born, and who are its offspring? And who is it that crushes it? And who brings it to an end? Tell us, O tyranny of all mortals, you who bought everyone with the gold of insatiability, whence have you obtained entrance into us? And what are you by nature prone to beget after your entry? And what is your exit from us?

She, having labored under these insults, raging toward us tyrannically and wildly, replied: "Why do you cast reproaches at me, you who are accountable to me? And how do you hasten to be separated from me? I am joined to nature; my door is the nature of foods; the cause in me is the habit of insatiability; the basis of my passion is the habit that has preceded, and the insensibility of the soul, and the forgetfulness of death. And why do you seek to learn the names of my descendants? I will count them for you, and they will be more numerous than the sand. ^C Nevertheless, hear who are called my firstborn and beloved ones. My firstborn son is the minister of fornication, and the second is hardness of heart. The third is sleep, ^D that sea of thoughts, those waves of pollution, that depth of unknown and unspeakable impurities that flow from me. My daughters are sloth, talkativeness, boldness, buffoonery, levity, contradictiousness, stiffness of neck, disobedience, insensibility, captivity, vainglory, audacity, love of finery, which is succeeded by prayer that is not pure, and the rambling of thoughts. And very often there are also unexpected and unforeseen calamities, with which hopeless despair, the most grievous of all, has associated. Remembrance of faults makes war upon me, but it does not overcome me; the idea of death is hateful to all my members, but it..."

provides nothing in this mortal life that can completely destroy me. He who has the Holy Spirit acts against me with His help, and having been implored, He forbids one to act in any vicious or base way; for those who have not tasted that heavenly Consoler, being captured by my allurements, desire to take delight in me to satiety.

The victory over this vice is glorious. The victor proceeds by an open path to the highest tranquility of soul and supreme temperance. ^B

SCHOLIA ON GRADUS XIV.

Concerning Gluttony.

Scholion 1.

Scholion 2.

Another of Evagrius.

Scholion of Mark 3.

Scholion of Isaiah 4.

Scholion 5.

Scholion 6.

Other.

Scholion 7.

Scholion 8.

Other.

Other of Isaac.

Scholion of Mark 9.

Other.

Scholion 10.

^A Of King Solomon: "Lord, give me neither riches nor poverty; but order for me only the necessary and sufficient." By "riches" he interprets abundance, and by "poverty" the absolute lack of things pertaining to the use of life.

Scholion 11. The perfect (religious soul) who has conquered all base desires lives thereafter without care, and not even in a time of joy does he seek any pleasures or follow a passion. But he who is still struggling against the passions of the soul, even in times of consolation, thinks of the struggle, reins in his desires, and sets certain measures and limits for them. The one subject to passions, however, always appetite-driven, pursues pleasures, and abusing the time of joy, surrenders himself entirely to enjoyments and delights, for at every hour and moment he desires to be pleased and to feast upon them. ^B

Scholion 12. He who is subject to passions rejoices in feasts and celebrations, but the athlete of Christ rejoices in the time of struggle and contest, with crowns and rewards set before him which will correspond in proportion to his labors. The perfect soul, however, celebrates these Sabbaths and holidays without any other distraction.

Scholion 13. By "eunuchs," he understands those of whom the Lord says that they have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, and who abstain from all things; for the rest of those so-called eunuchs do not differ at all from other men, being subject to the same passions. ^C

Scholion 14. The mind of the continent is a temple of the Holy Spirit; the mind of the glutton is a nest of crows.

Scholion 15. Whenever the belly grows moist through satiety, tears dry up; but when the belly is dried up through fasting, the waters of tears increase.

Scholion 16. Pleasure is like a dog: if you pursue it, it flees; if you feed it, it remains. Flee delight for the sake of affliction, lest the devil use your own members as weapons against you. ^D

Scholion 17. Prudently and studiously watch over this with labor, so that by the affliction of the belly you may close the mouth, lest the tongue leap out or break forth, and you contract the habit of talkativeness.

Scholion of Isaac. Vicious desires are like little dogs accustomed to spending their time at butcher shops, which a mere voice of a man puts to flight; but when neglected, they leap upon one like huge lions.

Another. No one can conquer base desires except through virtues which are exercised through the senses, with the application of the soul’s contemplation.

Scholion 18

Scholion 19

Scholion of Basil the Great 20

Scholion 21

Scholion 22

Scholion 23

Scholion 24

Scholion of Isaac 25

^A

*Aliud.* If a habit once seeks [to be satisfied] and its request is denied, you will find it weaker the next time; but if you perform its will even once, you will find it stronger against you the second time. Let this memory remain with you regarding every matter, for help born from vigilance is better than help born from [actual] deeds.

*Scholion 26.* As a troubled sea stirs up waves that sink a ship, so the tempest of thoughts, stirring up pollutions, immerses the soul and delivers it into the abyss of destruction.

*Scholion 27.* Question: What is impurity, and what is wantonness? Response: The law shows us what impurity is, using that name for those who are soiled involuntarily by natural necessity. But wantonness, it seems to me, is what the wisest of mortals, Solomon, indicates when he calls it "sweet" and "devoid of pain," so that either wickedness or wantonness is a disposition of the soul that does not bring forth any sense of pain; nor has it an athletic pain that exhausts or torments it, just as it is also intemperance, which has no power to resist the pleasures that assail it. ^B

*Scholion.* That one should never hope to be delivered from them.

*Preamble to the discourse on bodies and humans in the body apart from the body.* We have understood now from that furious mistress, gluttony, confessing that its base offspring is lust, by which it attacks the bodies of men. And indeed it should not seem wonderful; for our ancient progenitor of the human race, Adam, teaches this. For had he not been conquered by gluttony, he would never have known what a wife was. Therefore, those who observe the first commandment of God do not offend in the second, but remain children of Adam, ignorant of what Adam was (after the sin), placed a little below the nature and state of the angels ^C (a). And this [has happened], as he to whom the title of Theologian was given (b) says, so that the evil might not remain immortal and eternal.

GRADUS XV. Concerning chastity and temperance, obtained by corrupted mortals through labors and sweat.

Chastity is the vindication of a non-corporeal nature. Chastity is the most pleasing dwelling of Christ, and the earthly shield of the heart. Chastity is an extraordinary negation or victory of nature over nature, and a truly admirable struggle and emulation of the mortal body with the immortal angels. The chaste person drives out love with love, and extinguishes the fire of the body with the fire of the Spirit. Temperance is the common title of all the virtues; the temperate or continent person is he who, not even in sleep, perceives any sensation of the body affecting him; the temperate person is he who has acquired complete insensibility regarding the difference of bodies at all times. He is called Theologian absolutely.

^A This is the canon and rule of perfect and chaste purity, which is to be disposed in the same way towards things animate and inanimate, towards rational beings and irrational. Let no one ^B who has practiced purity attribute its acquisition to himself; for to overcome one's own nature is not among those things that are possible; wherever there is a defeat of nature, there the presence of Him who is above nature is recognized. For without any gainsaying, the lesser is abolished by the greater. The beginning of purity is a will not consenting to evil, and the absence of idols in the thoughts over time. The middle degree of purity is natural movements in the presence of an abundance of food, and those held without any fantasy, and being free from any flow. The end is the mortification of the body by those whose thoughts have died before them.

Truly blessed is he who, in every body, color, and season, has acquired complete insensibility ^C — not he who has kept the clay uncorrupted, for this is purity, but he who has perfectly subjected the members of this body to the soul. Great is he who, in touching, remains passionless and unharmed, and who defeats the sight of fire by the thought of the beauty of the things above. The one who thrusts away the dog by prayer is like a lion fighting; the one who overturns it by contradiction is like one pursuing his enemy; but the one who has once despised its assault, even though he is in the flesh, has risen from the tomb.

If this is the mark of true purity, to be immobile even in sleep by fantasy — then this is altogether a mark of lust, to endure a discharge while watching because of imaginations. The one who fights this adversary with sweats and labors is like one who has bound his enemy with a rush; the one who fights out of self-control ^D and wakefulness is like one who has bound him with a collar; but the one who fights through humility, and gentleness, and thirst is like one who has killed his enemy and buried him in sand — consider sand as humility, for it does not nourish the fodder of the passions, but is earth and ash. One is from struggles, another from humility; and another is he who, by divine revelation, has the tyrant bound. One is like the morning star, another like the full moon, another like the bright sun; but both possess their citizenship in the heavens. Out of the dawn light, and out of light the sun has risen; so also one can understand and find it in the things mentioned. The fox feigns sleep, and the demon feigns temperance; the one so that it may deceive the hen, the other so that it may destroy the soul. Do not trust the flesh in your life, and do not be confident in it until you meet Christ; do not be confident in self-control that you will not fall; for not even one who was eating was cast out of heaven. Some of the wise have well defined renunciation by saying it is hostility towards the body and a fight against the belly. In beginners, the falls of the body are wont to come typically from luxury; in those at the intermediate stage, they come from high-mindedness, although also in beginners; but in those who approach perfection, they come from judging one's neighbor and from that alone.

Some have called those blessed who are eunuchs by nature, because they have been delivered from the tyranny of the body. But I count those blessed who are "eunuchs" daily, who by their own reasoning, as though by a knife, are accustomed to maim themselves. ^B I have seen those who have fallen involuntarily, and I have seen those who wished to fall voluntarily but could not; and I have judged the latter to be more miserable than those who fall every day, since they could not even obtain what was foul and filthy. Miserable is the one who falls, but more miserable is he who even provokes another to a fall; for he bears the weight of two falls and two sins—his own, I mean, and the other's pleasure. Do not seek to defeat and overthrow the spirit of lust with reasoning and counter-arguments; for it has ready at hand arguments that are highly plausible, and it attacks us through our own nature. Whoever wants to subdue and conquer his own flesh by his own works and strength alone runs in vain. For unless the Lord ^C destroys the house of the flesh and builds the house of the spirit, he who stays awake and tries to dissolve it by fasting labors in vain. Set before the eyes of the Lord the frailty of your nature; recognize the defect of your own powers deeply, and you will, without realizing it, perceive the grace of chastity.

There is indeed in those who are captured by foul pleasures (as one who had experience of this matter related to me after he had returned to a better life) a sense of a certain insane love toward bodies, and an impudent and inhuman spirit that resides in the very sense of the heart, not without manifest signs of its presence. It causes the one tempted by lust to labor in such heat, as if a furnace were raging with flame within. He does not fear God; he scorns every remembrance of eternal punishments and mocks them as a fable. He detests prayers, and at the contemplation of corpses he is moved no more than at the sight of stones. Even in the very perpetration of the nefarious crime, it makes the person occupied with it somehow mindless, and deprives him of reason, raging with a desire for both humans and beasts; and were his days not shortened, no soul would be saved, clothed as it is in this mud of the body, which is composed of blood and fleshy mire. For whatever each thing is made of, that it insatiably craves, as if it were agreeable to its nature: blood craves blood, the worm craves the worm, and the mire craves the mire; and does not the flesh crave the flesh? Even if we attempt to deceive the deceiver itself with ruses, those who are the violent claimants and aspirants of nature and the kingdom—that is, the war mentioned above—those who do not voluntarily ^D err.

^A We pray to be delivered from such a trial of his; for those who have slipped into the aforementioned pit fall far away from those who are ascending that ladder, and for their ascent from there they require many sweats with extreme fasting. Let us consider whether, in our spiritual enemies, just as in a sensible war, each of them has been assigned a specific enterprise to pursue in their battle array against us; a wonder which I have noted in those who are tempted; and I have seen falls more grievous than falls; and he who has a mind to hear, let him hear. ^B It is the habit of the demon, and especially with those who are struggling and often pursuing the solitary life, to prepare them to be attacked not in the things according to nature, but solely in those against nature, directing all his impulse, zeal, craft, guile, and ingenuity into these; whence also, often dwelling with the female sex, and not being at all tempted by it with desire or thought, they have counted themselves blessed, the wretches not knowing that where the destruction is greater, there the need for the lesser trial has not been established. I think that it is for two reasons that these murderous ones are in the habit of ravaging us miserable ones in the things against nature, both because the matter of the fall is everywhere accessible to us, and because they gain a greater punishment. ^C The one who previously allowed himself to be directed by wild asses, but was finally and pitifully directed and mocked by the wild asses of the underworld—though he had been fed on heavenly bread, yet later was deprived of the good—knows what has been said, and it is more wonderful still that even after repentance a great pillar fell, and our teacher Antony bitterly lamenting, said, "A great pillar has fallen." The wise man, however, concealed the manner of the fall; for he knew that it was fornication committed bodily, and apart from another body. There is a certain death in us and a cause of ruinous fall in us, and always carried about with us, especially in youth; which I have not dared to commit to writing; for he who said has stayed my hand: "For the things done in secret by some, it is shameful even to speak of, and to write, and to hear." ^D This flesh of mine, both enemy and friend, blessed Paul called death, saying, "Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Another theologian calls it impassioned, servile, and nocturnal; but for whose sake, or for what reason they used such appellations for it, I was thirsting to learn. If flesh is death, as has been said before, he who triumphs over it certainly does not die; and who then is that man who shall live, and will he not die by death from the defilement of his flesh? It must be sought

know why they have called it by these names. If, as has been said, the flesh is death, then he who has conquered this flesh shall not die at all. But point out to me the man who lives and will not see death, undefiled by any stain of his flesh? It will be worth our while to inquire here which is the greater: he who returned from the dead to life, or he who never died at all. He who declared the second one blessed is deceived, for Christ died and rose again. But he who considers the first one blessed believes that there is no desperation of salvation among the dying or, rather, among the sinning; for that evil and hostile enemy of ours, ^A the author of licentiousness, suggests to us that God is ^B merciful and easily grants forgiveness to this vice so innate to our nature. Let us pay heed to the wicked arts of the demons, and we shall find that after a sin is committed, they portray and propose God to us as a severe, just, and inexorable judge. Before the crime is committed, they affirm that He is easy and merciful, so that they may impel us to the act; once impelled, they drive us to desperation, and once we are submerged, they swallow us up. When we are pressed by heavy sadness and desperation, we are not easily accustomed to exposing ourselves to the danger and ruin of sinning again; where sadness has been wiped away with desperation, the tyrant brings mercy back to our memory (so that he may cast us into ruin once more). The purer the Lord is, and the more remote from every contagion of the body, the more is He delighted and refreshed by our chastity and the cleanliness of our body: just as, on the other hand, the monsters of hell, as some say, are delighted by nothing more than the stench of lust, nor by anything more than the defilement of the body.

Chastity makes us familiar with God and, as much as human nature permits, makes us like Him. As the earth, irrigated by dew, is the producer of sweetness, so the parent of chastity is religious quietude joined with obedience. The movements of the body, composed and calmed by the quiet of solitude, do not remain unshaken if one often goes out into the public and the world. ^C But the sense of the body, once extinguished through obedience, never comes to life again, but is everywhere unmoved and approved. I have observed those among whom humility appeared from pride, and I recalled him who said: *Who has known the mind of the Lord?* (1 Cor. 2:16). A pit and a swelling, arrogance and pride impel one to the fall of sin: but the fall, among those who sin voluntarily, is often the cause of humility. He who with a belly full of rich food wishes to conquer the spirit of lust, acts exactly like one who tries to extinguish a fire with oil. He who thinks he can settle this war by abstinence alone is imitating the man who tries to escape the waves ^D of the sea by swimming with one hand. Join humility with abstinence; for without the one, the first is of no profit or power. Whoever perceives himself to be guilty of any vice, let him arm himself first of all against that one thing alone, especially if it be a domestic and internal enemy, for unless we overthrow it, we shall labor in vain in overcoming the others. But when the Egyptian has been slain, we shall surely see God in the bush of humility. I once felt this wolf attacking me, bringing me joy beyond reason, tears, and consolation through his deceits; and I, in my simplicity, believed I possessed fruit and not corruption.

Since every sin that a man is accustomed to commit is outside the body, but only the lecherous man sins against his own body, and this happens precisely because the flesh itself is defiled by the flux of obscene humor—a thing which cannot happen in other sins—I ask, why is it that in all other ways of sinning we are accustomed to say that men have been deceived, but when we hear that someone has committed an offense against chastity, we cry out with groanings and grief: "He has fallen"? The fish skillfully avoids the hook, but the soul given over to pleasures turns away from stillness. When the devil wishes to bind two people to one another with a foul bond of love, having probed the nature of each, he begins to apply his torches. It is the nature of those who are seized by pleasures to be led by affection toward others, to pity the misfortunes of others, to be moved to mercy, to weep with them, and to be flatterers; but those who are diligent in purity are not affected by such sentiments.

There was a man of wisdom and learning who put to me this ambiguous and truly grave and difficult question. "What kind of sin," he asked, "except for murder and the denial of God, is heavier than all others?" And when I replied that it was falling into heresy, he said, "How then does the Catholic Church, after heretics have condemned their own heresy by a sincere confession, immediately admit them to the participation of the divine mysteries, but as for him who confesses that he has committed fornication, and ceases from the sin, and has been granted forgiveness, it nevertheless debars him for a time and for years from the sacrosanct and immaculate mysteries of the Eucharist, just as the apostolic canons prescribe?" While I stood stunned by this doubt, the question remained in the middle, still unsolved. Let us search and measure and observe what pleasure is brought to us by the spirit of luxury during psalmody, and what arises from the oracles of the Holy Spirit, and what power of grace and virtue is in them.

^D O youth, examine yourself diligently. I have observed some who, while praying to God ^B from the heart for their dear ones and friends, were stirred and moved by an impure spirit and thought they were exercising the memory of a grateful mind toward their own and performing an office of charity. There is a time when the body is defiled by the touch of the hand alone; for there is nothing more dangerous than this sense of touch. May he not fall from your mind who (when he was to carry his sick mother) wrapped his hand in his garment; and do you, in your turn, restrain and check your hand from the touch of natural and non-natural things, from your own body as much as from another's. No one at all, I think, can ^C rightly and truly be given the title of "holy" who has not first purified this clay of the earth (that is, the body) from every stain, and made it pure and holy, and in a way transformed it—if indeed it can be transformed (in the present life) at all. When we lie down on our bed to sleep, then truly we must act cautiously and keep watch; for at that time the mind, without the body, struggles alone with demons, and if the soul is inclined toward pleasures, it easily conspires with the enemies through treachery. Let the memory of death sleep with the one who is about to sleep,

^A and let him rise and converse with Jesus alone through prayer: you will find nothing in sleep as effective as these remedies. There are those who imagine that struggles with lust and the emission of obscene fluid arise solely from an overabundance of food. Yet I have seen those suffering most gravely and extremely from diseases, and emaciating themselves through excessive fasting, being vehemently infested and defiled by these foul stains of fluid. I once inquired of a certain one of the most praiseworthy and prudent monks, and that most blessed man taught me quite clearly and explicitly. "There is," said that ever-to-be-praised man, "a time when, during sleep, genital fluid flows from satiety and rest from food; there is a time when it proceeds from pride, when our long-standing freedom from such flux has continued, whence we are puffed up and pleased with ourselves. Sometimes, indeed, we are defiled when we rashly judge and condemn the deeds and life of another; and it is possible that from these latter two causes it may happen even to the sick; nay, sometimes, I believe, from all three." But he who feels himself to be pure and free from all these causes is blessed because of this tranquil purity of body, and he suffers this only because of the envy of the demons, God permitting this to happen to him for a time, so that from this blameless affliction he may acquire the deepest humility. Let no one ^B wish to revolve in his mind during the day the nocturnal dreams and phantasms; for the goal of our enemies is also to aim at this, that they may defile us, while awake, from our dreams. Let us hear also another wile of our enemies. Just as certain kinds of food possess the nature to cause us illness after a year or even a day, so I have often observed in those who indulge in delicacies, and who provide the causes for defiling the soul through impure bodily fluxes, that they are not always solicited to sin immediately, but frequently after a long time. I have seen those who ate and associated familiarly with women, and at that time were not tempted by any wicked thoughts; yet they, trusting in themselves too much, were at length deceived and fell, when, I say, they thought they were enjoying deep peace and security, suddenly in their own chamber they were precipitated into ruin. What that ruin is, which is wont to happen to us when we live alone—both bodily and spiritually—he who has been tempted knows by the experience of the act itself. He who has not been tempted, let him not desire to experience it. In those waves of temptations, a great help to those in danger will be a rough hair shirt, ashes, an all-night vigil with the labor of standing continuously, hunger—or rather, the desire for bread—and a tongue burning with thirst, moistened by a little liquid; ^C dwelling in vaults of corpses and ossuaries; and above all other things, deep humility of heart, and, if the possibility exists, some religious father, or a virtuous brother who is not so much an elder in years as in wisdom, to help him in his struggle. For I marvel if anyone alone can save a ship from the sea. The same fall often possesses a judgment a hundredfold heavier than another previously committed, because of the manner, the place, the progress, and many other factors. Someone once described to me a rare and unusual, indeed a supreme, degree of chastity. Some man, he said, having looked upon a beautiful body, glorified God, the author of that body, on account of it; and from that sight alone he was carried away into the love of God and a fountain of tears; and it was a marvel to see that which was a cause of ruin to one ^D becoming for another a crown beyond nature. If such a person always in such things has this perception and...

usage in his religious studies, he has truly risen incorrupt, even now, before the general resurrection of all. ^A We shall use the same rule also for melodies and chants. For those who truly love God are naturally moved to exhilaration, divine love, and tears, both by things external and by spiritual songs; but those who love pleasure are the opposite. Some, as we have already said, who dwell in quiet places, are naturally more severely attacked; and this is not to be wondered at, for the demons, having been banished by the Lord into the deserts and into the abyss for our salvation, dwell there much more. The demons of fornication attack ^B the hesychast severely, so that they may drive him to the world, since he is not benefiting from the desert; they depart from us while we live in the world, so that, not being attacked, we may remain and perish with the worldly. Wherever we are attacked, there we are fighting the enemy severely. For whoever is not attacked by them is found to be a friend of the enemies himself. We are sheltered by the hand of the Lord while we live in the world for some necessity, perhaps often by the prayer of the father, so that the Lord may not be blasphemed because of us; but there is a time when this also happens from callousness, and from being sated by the many experiences of things seen and heard; or even because the demons withdraw willingly, leaving to us the demon of pride to fill the place of all the others. Hear the device and cunning of this deceiver, all you who choose to practice purity, and be on your guard.

^C One of those who had experience of this trick told me how the demon of the body most often withdraws himself at the end, suggesting the most extreme piety to the monk, and perhaps a fountain of tears at the time when he sits with women, or converses about the remembrance of death, and judgment, and temperance, prompting him to admonish them about these things, so that through his speech and feigned piety the wretched women may run to him, as sheep to a wolf, ^D and when familiarity and boldness have finally been established, the wretch will then suffer a fall. Let us flee and keep fleeing, so that we neither see nor desire to hear the fruit of the tree whose fruit we have resolved never to taste for our whole life. For I marvel at those who consider themselves stronger than the prophet David—which is impossible. So high and great is the encomium of purity, that there are some among the Fathers who dare to call it the blessed tranquility of soul and body, free from all vice. There are some who say

and carry with them, the keys of the kingdom. The serpent of bodies is multiform ^A: to those who are inexperienced, he sows the idea of an experience, to see if it can both happen and cease; but to the experienced, the wretch [the crafty one] urges them on through memory towards the experience again. Many of the former, through ignorance of evil, remain undisturbed. But the latter, having become as it were experienced in this filth, from then on sustain disturbances and wars; yet the contrary also often happens, [that they are] not taken in by pleasures henceforth because of the hatred which they conceived in the very experience itself.

When we rise from sleep holy and peaceful, let us think that this is due to the silent help of the holy angels, especially when we have fallen asleep having prayed much and kept watch. But there is a time when we wake from sleep in sadness and sorrow, vexed and disturbed by evil dreams and phantasms or visions: *I have seen the ungodly highly exalted and lifting himself up and troubled and raging against me like the cedars of Libanus, and I passed by through abstinence, and behold he was not as before in his fury; and I sought him in the humility of my thoughts, and his place or his footprint was not found in me.* ^B Whosoever has conquered his body or flesh has conquered nature itself; and he who has conquered nature is already above nature. He who is such is already a little lower than the angels; I would dare to say that such a one differs in nothing from the angels. It ought not to seem a marvel if those who lack a body fight among themselves (as an angel against the devil); but it is a huge miracle, indeed I might say a miracle, that a man, weighed down by a body and by the flesh—that enemy and treacherous foe of the soul—should nevertheless conquer and put to flight enemies who are free from all bodily distress (I mean the demons). How great a care the good God takes for the human race is shown in this also, when He has curbed and repressed the impudence of the female with modesty, as with a bridle. For if she were to run willingly toward the male, all flesh would not be saved.

Something else is handed down by the religious Fathers and those prudent in spiritual matters to be the first assault; something else is association [conjunction of a thought with an impure object]; something else is consent; something else is captivity; something else is warfare; and something else is what is called a malady [passion] or affection of the soul. ^C For the blessed ones define the assault as a bare word, or an image of whatever happens to appear newly in the heart; but association, as talking with what has appeared, either with passion or without passion; but consent, as the pleasurable inclination of the soul toward what has been seen; but captivity (43), as a violent and involuntary abduction of the heart, or a persistent meeting with the object that destroys our best state. And they define warfare as a power equal in strength to the one fighting, either willingly conquering, or enduring defeat.

They call a disease or passion of the soul a vice that has, in a way, nested in the soul for a long time, and has subsequently led it into habit and custom, so that finally it runs towards that vice which has established its seat within it, of its own accord and willingly.

Of all these stages, the first is without sin; the second is not entirely so; the third depends on the state of the one struggling. Warfare is the cause either of crowns or of punishments. For captivity is judged differently at the time of prayer, differently at another time, differently in indifferent matters, and differently in evil thoughts. But passion without doubt is subject either to the counter-struggle of repentance, or to the punishment to come. Therefore, he who wisely ponders the first stage has cut off all the final stages at once.

Among the most precise of the Gnostic Fathers, there is another notion of these, one more subtle, which some say is called ^A *pararrhymismos* (a slipping in of the mind), which is naturally able to signify passion to the sufferer more sharply than time, word, or image. Nothing regarding bodies is swifter, nothing sharper or more invisible in spirits, than this, which makes its presence known in the soul by a bare memory without collocation or union, timelessly and inexpressibly, and by some deemed unknown. If, therefore, anyone has been able through mourning to understand such subtlety of it, he can teach us how it is that one is defiled by it passionately in the soul, even by an eye alone, by a mere gaze, by the touch of a hand, or by hearing a note, without any thought or reasoning.

Some say that the body comes into passions from the thoughts of the heart; others again say the reverse, that evil thoughts are born from the sensations of the body. The former say that if the mind does not run ahead, the body would not follow; the latter bring the wrongdoing of the bodily passion as their own defense, saying: “Often thoughts take entry into the heart from a most delightful sight, or the touch of a hand, or the fragrance of a scent, or the hearing of sweet music.” ^B Let him who is able in the Lord teach us about these things. For such things are necessary and useful to those who are pursuing the practical life through knowledge. For those who labor in simplicity of heart, there is no discussion of these things; for knowledge is not for everyone, nor is the blessed simplicity, that breastplate against the snares of the evil ones. Some of the passions proceed from the inside to the body; others again the reverse; and in those who are in the world, the latter occurs; in those who are pursuing the solitary life, the former occurs, because of the lack of material things. I, however, say this about this matter: You will seek understanding among the wicked, and you will not find it. When many [thoughts press]... ^{C D}

-- having contended against the demon who is the spouse of mud, and having tortured and cast him out of our heart by the stones of fasting and the sword of humility—then the wretched creature, sitting in the body like a worm, tries to defile us by goading us into certain irrational and untimely impulses. This is something especially suffered by those who obey the demon of vainglory; for, because they no longer have impure sexual thoughts occurring in their hearts, they have moved toward vainglory. That this statement is no lie is easily proven if, when they attain some quiet, they examine themselves wisely; for they will certainly find some thought in the depths of their heart, like a serpent hiding in the dung, and [it will be] suggesting that they have produced the achievement of heart-purity by their own zeal and enthusiasm—the poor wretches not understanding [the text]: "For what do you have that you did not receive" (46) as a gift, either from God or through the cooperation and prayers of others? Let them take care, therefore, and with all zeal, by means of great humility, kill and cast out the aforementioned serpent from their own hearts, so that, having been released from it, they may perhaps one day be able also to strip off those "garments of skin" and sing the hymn of victory of purity to the Lord, as the pure infants once did—if, having stripped them off, they are not found naked of that simplicity and natural humility. ^B This same demon also watches—and does so much more curiously than all others—for those times when we are least able to withstand him with bodily [actions]; and it is then that the unholy one tests our power to fight.

For those who have not yet attained (47) the true prayer of the heart, the "distraction" of bodily prayer—I mean the stretching out of hands, the beating of the breast, the sincere looking up to heaven, the noise of sighs, the constant bending of knees—is a help, things which one cannot often do because of those present. Because of this, the demons choose that time to fight. Those who are not yet strong enough to resist the enemy with the weight of the mind and the invisible power of prayer must, of necessity, perhaps yield to those attacking them. Leap away if possible, quickly; hide yourself for a moment, unknown to others; look up with your eyes, if possible with a cool gaze—if not, then with an outward one; stretch out your hands immovably (48), so that by the figure of the cross you may put Amalek to shame and conquer. Cry out to him who is able to save, not with words composed for elegance and wisdom, but in humble utterances, before all others: "Have mercy on me" (49), for I am weak, making this your prelude. Then you will experience ^C the power of the Most High; and invisibly you will drive away the invisible enemy through invisible aid. Whoever is thus accustomed to fight will quickly begin to drive away enemies by the soul alone; for the second [gift] is given by God to the workers as a reward for the first, and justly so.

^A Having found myself in a certain gathering, I observed a diligent brother who, having been bothered by evil thoughts and finding no suitable place for secret prayer, had rushed off to answer the needs of his stomach as if stung by them; he then prayed fervently against his enemies. But when I rebuked him for the inappropriateness of the place, he said: "I prayed for the cleaning of filth in a filthy place, because I was being bothered by unclean thoughts." All the demons are accustomed to darken the mind and then to offer us their own allurements. For unless a religious man first closes the eyes of his mind, he cannot be robbed of his treasure. But the demon of luxury is accustomed to do this more than all others. For this leader ^B and guide of the human soul drives the religious person into such a night of confusion that he is forced even in the presence of men to commit deeds and crimes which no one unless insane would do. Hence it comes that after a time, when the mind has shaken off the drunkenness and returned to itself, we are ashamed not only before the spectators of our actions, but even before ourselves, on account of our indecent deeds, words, and gestures, and we are greatly astonished at the previous blindness of our mind. Hence it has not rarely happened that many, from the consideration of this matter, have amended their ways. Execrate that enemy who, after a sin has been committed, prevents you from applying yourself to prayer, or from taking up pious studies, or from keeping vigil, ^C mindful of him who said: "For my soul was troubled, oppressed by the anticipation of my sins as if by a tyranny, I will take vengeance upon her enemies" (Ps. XL, 6). Who has conquered his body or flesh? He who is contrite of heart. Who is contrite of heart? He who has denied himself. For how can he not be contrite of heart who is dead to his own will? There is one who is more vicious than another, who recalls the filth of intemperance with pleasure. The impure thoughts of the mind and the obscene ones are wont to be stirred up by the devil of luxury, the corrupter of the heart, which temperance—and the neglect and contempt of them—is wont to heal. But by what reason and in what manner I shall judge this friend of mine (my body, I say), who is bound to me like other vices, I do not see. For before I bind him, he is loosed; before I judge him, I am reconciled with him; ^D and before I punish him, I am softened. How shall I hate one whom I am naturally disposed to love? How shall I be freed from one to whom I am bound for all eternity? How shall I extinguish [the desires of] one with whom I am to rise again? How shall I present incorrupt one who is of a corrupt nature? By what arguments shall I act against one who opposes to me the arguments of his own nature? If I try to bind him by fasting, then I condemn the non-fasting ...

if I treat him well, he becomes insolent and mocks me; if I wear him out, he faints; if I refresh him, he becomes wanton; he refuses to be beaten, and if he is affected by sadness, he casts me into the ultimate danger. If I break him, I have no one through whom I might exercise virtues: I both abhor and embrace the same thing. What is this miracle of nature within me? What is this rationale of the concretion of soul and body? How am I myself both an enemy and a friend to myself? Tell me, I beseech you, tell me, my dear spouse, my ^A nature, for I do not desire to be taught about you by another, but by you alone. Tell me how I shall remain unhurt by you? In what way shall I escape the danger of nature, seeing that I have already joined with Christ to conduct a war against you? How shall I conquer your tyranny, when it is already decreed for me that I am to use the greatest force against you? ^B Then the flesh, answering its soul, said: No, it says, do not labor over things that are unknown to you, but over those of which we both have knowledge. I contain within myself the love of my parent, and the remedy for the heat from without, and in general my rest, and from the movement within, which came from prior relaxation and past actions. I, having conceived, bring forth sins and ruins. But sins when brought to completion generate the death of despair. When you have recognized your own and my sure and total weakness, you have put handcuffs on my hands; where you have twisted and bridled the throat, you have bound my feet with fetters, so that they cannot advance any further. When you have joined yourself with obedience, you are severed from me. Where you possess true humility, you have severed my neck.

^C The fifteenth reward of virtue: he who, dwelling in the flesh, received this, has died and risen again; and he has already, from that moment, perceived the foretaste of the future immortality.

SCHOLIA TO STEP XV. On Chastity.

Scholion 1. To fight the struggle, or to contend, and to make the body equal (to those blessed spirits) who lack a body, this is the mark of true chastity, and of an integrity or incorruption that does not deceive.

Scholion 2. The desire for better things, which has in its power and capacity the desire for pleasures, always compels one to despise and oppose the inferior things, ^D just as the examples of all the saints teach.

Scholion 3. "To have conquered" means the burnings of the body or flesh, and to have subdued its powerless movements and subjected them to the mind. For he who is overcome by these has not conquered, but has been conquered.

Scholion 4. The natural movements of the body which exist in sleep without the forms of images teach that the soul is, in some measure, doing well. But the firm imagination of phantasms is a sign of an ailment of the soul. And you should believe that the forms of undefined bodies are an argument and symbol of an ancient evil affection; and those that are defined are an argument and symbol of a recent blow and wound.

^A

Scholion 5. He subjects the members of the flesh to the spirit, who uses the senses according to the prescription of nature, and suffers no harm from them; he is ever intent upon the eyes of God, and ever gazes upon and contemplates with his mind His beauties, which no power of words can explain.

Scholion 6. Oblocution is called contradiction. But unless you first humble yourself through prayer, you cannot aspire to this.

Scholion 7. Temperance, or abstinence, is a bridle which restrains the impetuosity of nature in seeking food, money, drink, or glory.

Scholion. Bodily continence is the turning away from all actions committed through the body which are contrary to reason. Spiritual or mental continence is the turning away of the mind from all delectation of harmful thoughts. The former cannot be accomplished or exercised unless the latter is in the soul through meditation and vigilance, and it is never separated from it.

Another [selection] from Basil the Great. The chastisement and reduction of the body into servitude is accomplished by nothing so much as by abstinence. For that fervor which is wont to flourish in the young, and that impetuosity which is difficult to restrain in the curbing of lusts, is restrained by abstinence as if by a bridle; for luxury is not profitable for a fool, as Solomon says. But what of flesh that is pampered ... the abstinence from foods? For this is a certain violent dissolution of life; but we mean that abstinence from pleasurable things which is practiced for the sake of piety, for the purpose of removing the contumacy of the flesh, and simply from those things whose pleasures are desired by those who live according to passion; abstinence from these is necessary for those who are disciplined toward piety. ^B And, so that I may conclude at once, we who strive toward true piety must practice temperance regarding those things whose pleasures are typically sought by those who live in lust. Prov. xix, 10. ^C

Scholion 8. Some men abstain from wicked desires because they fear men; others, because of vainglory; others, because of continence; others, finally, are freed from the same [vices] out of fear of divine judgments.

Scholion 9. Or from the aforementioned example, for one thing is the cause of another; for humility arises from struggles and contests, and from this, divine illumination comes to the man, which leads him to the highest summit of purity. ^D

Scholion 10. He understands [here] the appetites of the flesh and the intimate affection itself, which exists as the primary cause of the action.

Scholion 11.

Scholion of Isaiah 12.

Scholion of Mark 13.

Another.

Scholion 14.

Scholion 15.

Scholion 16.

Scholion 17.

^A appear, nor is it reproached, but one has only conscience as witness, which he also called death: for there is a certain death in us, which we always carry around with us.

*Scholion 18.* This (flesh) is an enemy to me as though it were a nature consorting with the soul, and something cherished by it [to be cherished or which is cherished by it]. Not "mine," inasmuch as the soul fights against it as its own enemy: a thing which is the most grievous. Therefore the Apostle, on account of the scandals which arise from the belly to the soul, called the body "death." But Gregory the Theologian called the bodily generation vicious and nocturnal; namely the work of night and pleasure, worse and more inimical than spirit, freedom, and light.

*Another from Chrysostom.* Do not think that he is accusing the flesh itself. For he did not say "the body of sin," but "the body of death." Meaning: that which has been conquered by death, not that which has generated death; which is a symbol not of the wickedness of the flesh, but of the violence which the flesh has endured. Just as if someone is taken captive by barbarians, not because he himself is a barbarian, but because he is held by them; so too the body is called "of death" because it was captured by it, not because it procured it. Hence, even he himself does not wish to be freed from his body, but from his mortal body.

*Scholion 19.* He who has died through sins, and has returned to life through repentance, or who has seemed not to have died. For even if he has escaped stronger or graver vices, nevertheless he clings to certain subtle ones. For "Who will understand transgressions?" says David. For if Christ, in whose mouth no guile was found, died and rose again, who then is he who will escape the death of sin? There is no one who does not sin at all. Blessed, therefore, is he who is recalled through repentance. And the construction of the following discourse, in relation to what was said, is this. He who calls the penitent blessed, he says: for this one is the prior [consideration], this moves and teaches that one must in no way despair for those who have fallen. Meaning, it is not necessary to despair of those who fall. The word "compels" [δυσωπεῖ], is used in place of "exhorts," "admonishes" again ^{B C} . . . A certain king, having seen an Ephesian priestess refulgent with incredible beauty, departed immediately from Ephesus, fearing lest, against his will, he might be compelled to perform some unholy act. And Cyrus the Persian king did not even dare to look at Pantheia, who was attested to possess a wonderful and irresistible beauty. If, therefore, both facts, and the pagans also, and outsiders confirm the saying of Paul, who affirms: "I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection" (for ^D constant looking is the path that leads to the act itself: but even if it does not proceed to the deed, it pollutes the thought, and proves the one who has been thus caught to be an adulterer), who is so bold as to be constantly feasting upon things that are foreign...

^A and say that he has received no harm at all? If this is difficult, let him by all means flee the constant company of women. But if it is necessary, let him bridle his eyes.

Scholion 20. There are four virtues that purify the soul: silence, the keeping of the commandments, distress [or anguish and mourning], and humility of mind.

Scholion 21. The proud man, being abandoned by grace, fell; and having fallen, he was humbled, and thus his pride became the cause of his humility. Another. Humility is a mind subject to all; it is born from the disposition of a brave soul and the fear of judgment.

Scholion 22. It must be known that temperance alone does not suffice to subdue the vicious passions, unless other virtues also accompany it; in particular, humility ought to accompany temperance, in order that it may repress and turn away the arrogance arising from it. For if this is nullified, tranquility of mind, free from all tumult of the passions, is readily obtained.

Scholion of Saint Maximus 23. Humility and affliction deliver a man from every sin: for the former prunes away the passions of the soul, while the latter [prunes away those] of the body. For this is what the blessed David appears to be doing in those things which he ^C asks of God, saying: *Look upon my humility and my labor, and forgive all my sins.*

Scholion 24. Someone has erred, and has returned again by the same way from which he had strayed; for someone has denied God, as it were, through his tongue, and through the same tongue has confessed Him again; he has plundered with his hands, and with the same hands has distributed to the poor, and so on for others. But he who has sinned against chastity does not return by the same way through which he fell, but by another. For he weeps, he fasts, he groans. Wherefore, fornicating is properly called a ruin or a fall; especially since, for the monastic life, beyond other things, the pursuit of virginity is more familiar and characteristic—a fact which the very title of "monk" (as one who lives alone without a consort) and his profession or vow declare. ^D He, therefore, who has corrupted his virginity has truly fallen, making void that which he promised or vowed.

Scholion of Thalassius 25. He who is not affected by the things of the world or any men, who loves nothing human, truly loves the solitary life.

Scholion 26. Heresy is a seduction of the mind and a minister of the tongue, whence also comes error. But luxury [fornication] [pollutes] all the senses and

^A the faculties of the body and soul, and changes them, and transforms and corrupts them—turning them away from the image of God, in whose likeness they were made—and casts them into nothingness, whence it is also called a fall.

Another. From elation of soul or self-esteem arises heresy; from delicacies or pleasure arises luxury. Heretics are perfectly corrected through humility; the luxurious, through afflictions.

Scholion 27. The parent of the action or of the luxurious work is the sense of touch, just as vision is the parent of the act of seeing, and hearing and olfaction of their respective acts. If, therefore, anyone, not being led by these toward the sense of touch, falls instead through his own thinking, he will not proceed to the deed, or rather he will not be cast into an evil action, which we shun again and again even along with the thought itself.

Scholion 28. It must be noted that one should not touch [the] hands or any other member of the body, even if they are kin who are touched, according to the example of that religious brother who wrapped his hands with a veil, or a garment, or a scarf, or some other cloth, and thus carried his own sick mother. And not only must one not touch the members of another, but even of one’s own members, whatever it may be—that is, when nude—one must not handle it, especially if one is young and is assailed by the stings of the flesh, nor even for the sake of scratching; for the sense of touch is the effector and parent of the action and the work ^B itself. If, therefore, anyone, not having been led to the sense of touch by these things, falls instead through darkness—that is, as if through ignorance—he will not proceed to the nefarious work or to an evil and destructive act. He is called holy who is pure from wickedness and from sin. Whence it is also the greatest achievement of the soul and most pleasing to God that a man be devoid of wickedness and malice. Sanctity [sanctification], however, is to be totally and uninterruptedly ^C consecrated to the holy God at every moment through the care, and zeal, and solicitude in all those things that are pleasing to God, to adhere to God [in every instant through care, study, and constant solicitude, ever with one's whole heart to adhere to those things which are pleasing to God].

Scholion 29. This is of great wickedness. For the demons, who never grant us a truce in the war, even when there is a relaxation, do not let go—or dismiss—the fight (in appearance), so that, having despised the danger, as if we were already established in a secure port of tranquility, we might grow bold at any time. I say, indeed, that even in the very rigor of religious discipline they cast those who lead a solitary life into destruction. Which we must beware, lest we who are without the contact ^D of other bodies, use our own limbs in the wickedness of our own bodies, or rather, be swallowed into the deep pit of destruction by being served by our own members.

Scholion of Isidore 30. Every conversation of women, of whatever kind, should be avoided, as it has a certain inclination toward relaxation; but if this be impossible due to the state of necessities, or—

the care of the poor, then one must speak with them with eyes and face cast down toward the ground. For death has ^A entered through the windows of the eyes against most, or almost all, who have been overcome by the beauty of women; which also conquered the great prophet and king, when he looked upon that destructive bath.

*Scholion 31.* Because even burial places for the dead help in avoiding temptation. But the whole of this is humility: for the very tomb and coffin are fitting for the humble; and to this one ought also to add someone who prays with him, that is, some brother from among the athletes of Christ. ^B

*Scholion 32.* The same sin committed by two persons, one of whom has been honestly and holily brought up, and has lived at a distance from the place of sinners, after progress and experience in the monastic discipline. For he who has been trained in good morals, and has lived remote from the places of sinners, and is learned in religious exercises and struggles, and being experienced in them, is cast headlong into luxury, has incurred a much graver judgment than he who was trained negligently, ineptly, and ignorantly, and has fallen into sin. Moreover, interpret these words of Climacus along with many others, specifically regarding a holy place, what you will, regarding a pure soul, regarding a religious woman, regarding one under the authority of a husband, regarding whether there is a closeness of blood or spiritual kinship, and regarding someone having been the author of wicked doctrine (namely, leading to unknown sins).

*Scholion 33.* ^C I believe he refers here to Nonnus, who washed the holy Pelagia in the sacred font of baptism. For he, having battled against the chain of vices with deeds and thoughts, or with mind and body, put on the robe of tranquility pure from all defilement of perturbations. For when an occasion of sin was offered, he appeared imperturbable, because he had divested himself of every passion toward the matter of sin, and was contemplating the beauties of the heavens. But those addicted to pleasure do the exact opposite.

*Scholion 34.* God, with the future resurrection of bodies set before us, meanwhile demands from us another: a new, I say, kind of life in the present life, brought about by a change of character. For when the impure becomes temperate, ^D the avaricious merciful, and the harsh mild, then a resurrection has occurred here, which is an image and gateway to the future one. And how is it a resurrection? It is a mortification, I say, of sin, and a resurrection of justice; with the old and flagitious life abolished, the newest and angelic life is established.

*Scholion 35.* Evil thoughts arise both from the purpose of one's own will and from the wickedness of demons. But good thoughts arise both from nature (for we are born good) and from the choosing or purpose of the mind, on account of free-

- ^A will: furthermore, they arise also from angelic impulse, so that evil thoughts arise from only two sources, but good ones from three. Therefore, in the present state of life, one must remember what the theologian said: *Resist the devil, and he will flee from you* (a). Moreover, one must persist in the struggle or combat. On the contrary, when the one who dwells in the world yields when fought against, it is the fraud of the enemy, not clemency or kindness.

Scholion 36.

Another.

Another from Isaac.

Scholion 37.

Scholion 38.

Scholion 39.

Scholion 40. ^A He who has repelled the movements relating to pleasure has spared neither flesh nor blood.

Scholion 41. He calls the flesh and blood insidiously material, and the demons immaterial; the soul, which is joined to the body, he calls material; but the mind, which fights against the spirits, he calls immaterial. It is a marvel, therefore, he says, how a nature hindered by the concretion of the body fights against incorporeal demons and conquers.

Scholion 42. Captivity follows upon conjunction—that is, meeting and conversation (of the soul with an intruding thought)—which is both longer-lasting and more vehement; a sudden stirring follows the common or conjoined seizure; for the plague suddenly and unexpectedly creeps in and insinuates itself, usually without prior study, time, or disposition, seizing us by means of thin and subtle thoughts and senses.

Scholion 43 of Isaac. See what Climacus says regarding vicious affections or passions, that they must be cleansed by appropriate repentance or else reserved for the future judgment. Whence, then, do the new lawgivers grant indulgence to them without worthy repentance?

Another of Basil the Great. Question: What are the fruits worthy of repentance? Answer: Works of justice contrary to sin, which the penitent must perform, in order to fulfill what is written, "bearing fruit in every good work" (Col. 1, 10).

Scholion 44. Those things which arise from the senses of the body harm the body; and those which arise from the faculties of the soul, the soul.

Another. ^C An evil affection precedes an evil thought; the cause of the affection is the sense, but the abuse of this is the mind.

Another of St. Maximus. Evil affections arise from the senses, which will not be moved when love and temperance are present; but when they are absent, they will be moved. But wrath, more than concupiscence, needs many remedies, and for this reason love is called great, because it is a restraint upon wrath, which that holy Moses, in his natural or physical writings, called by way of comparison and figure the slayer of serpents (Lev. 11, 22).

Another of Isaac. Motions of the mind or thoughts in man arise from four sources of causes. First, from the natural will of the flesh; second, from the phantasy or imagination of the senses and the things of the world which one hears and sees; third, from those things which have preceded in inveterate habits, and the soul's effusion which it holds in the mind; finally, from the impulses and suggestions of the demons.

^A

Scholion 45.

Scholion.

Another.

Scholion 46.

Scholion 47.

Scholion 48.

Scholion 49.

Scholion.

Scholion 50 of Saint Chrysostom.

Another.

^A Scholion 51. See how he says that the soul is oppressed by tyranny, not by the passions, but by the habit or memory of past sins. For the voluntary approach of free will and its collusion give the passions dominion; for tyranny and violence are the solicitations and allurements of sins that are thrust upon one against one’s will.

Another. God calls our thoughts into judgment with discernment. For when I think of something and am refreshed and delighted by it, and desire the thing itself or the act, and with deliberation and judgment give my consent, then I am brought to account and condemned.

Another. If I contemplate wickedness and impurity and immediately stop, I am not condemned; but if I linger, and yearn, and am overcome, and am taken captive by consent to the act, I am condemned, as one who slips into thoughts and is defiled by the stains that are depicted and realized in the mind.

Scholion. I boast that I have love within me as a mother, and that I was born and raised by her; and I have my own nurse of exterior and bodily heat, and that very universal relaxation. For when I am pampered and treated softly, I am ignited in the exterior senses. But the causes and occasions of the interior flame and the impulses of the thoughts are born and exist from previous relaxation and past actions.

GRADUS XVI. On Avarice.

^B The greatest number of the learned Fathers, after the tyrant of the body and the flesh already explained, place here the present demon of avarice, abounding in innumerable heads. Lest we, therefore, being unwise, should change the arrangement of wise men, we have followed the same order and rule as they. Let us, therefore, treat briefly of this sickness of the soul, if you please, and then of the remedies for it. Avarice is the worship of idols, the offspring of unbelief, an excuse for diseases, a prophet of old age, a harbinger of famine, a provider of drought. The avaricious man is a mocker of the Gospels and a voluntary transgressor. He who possesses love distributes his money. He who says he possesses both (I mean love and money) is deceived (he holds neither). He who mourns for himself has also denied his body, and in his own time does not spare even it. Do not say that you are eager for money for the sake of the poor; for by two mites the kingdom of heaven was bought. An hospitable man and an avaricious man met one another; the avaricious man called the hospitable man wanting in judgment. He who has conquered this vice has cast away all cares.

SCHOLIA ON STEP XVI.

Another. The life of the avaricious man is like a feast for the dead: although he has everything, he does not have that which he imagines.

Another from Evagrius. Avarice proposes for itself a long old age, and an inability of the hands for labor, and famines that will be, and diseases that will happen, and the bitter things of poverty, and—the most disgraceful thing of all—receiving from others the things necessary for need.

Scholion 2. When the avaricious man has turned his mind away from the love of God, he loves idols of men engraved in gold more than God.

Another of St. Maximus. The lover of pleasure loves money so that he may indulge himself through it; the lover of vainglory, so that he may be honored through it; and the unbeliever, so that he may hide it and keep it, fearing famine, or old age, or disease, or exile; and he puts his hope in it rather than in God, the Creator and Provider of all creation, and of even the smallest and most minute animals.

Scholion 3. When the avaricious man hears the Gospel saying, "Sell what you have," and the rest, he mocks the commandment as impossible. For he says, "If everyone sells, who is the buyer?" Similarly, hearing "Do not be anxious about tomorrow," he does not believe, but opposes it, and knowingly and willingly transgresses by contradicting it.

Another of St. Maximus. There are three causes of the love of money:

^A love of pleasure, love of vainglory, and unbelief; but unbelief is worse than the two.

Another of the same. There are four kinds of people who crave money: the three aforementioned, and the householder; but he alone, clearly, acquires rightly, so that by providing for the needs of each, he may never lack.

Another of John of Carpathos. There is one who possesses more than his private necessity requires, in order to be able to succor others, and not because of the lust of possessing [not that it is a love of wealth]. For although he may appear to possess more than his own use requires, he does not possess more, since he interprets the aid of others or his own liberality toward others as his own necessity. ^B

St. Maximus 4. As death and life cannot be received together in the same subject, so charity cannot in any way coexist with money. For charity not only takes away the love of money, but also our present life itself.

STEP XVII

Concerning poverty that speeds to heaven

Religious poverty is the renunciation of cares, free from the cares of life, an unencumbered traveler, the observance of the commandments, ^C free from all molestation. The religious poor man is lord of the world, who has cast all his cares upon God, and who through faith makes all things his servants. Where he is in need of anything, he will not lodge a complaint with man. But whatever is provided for him, he will receive as if from the hand of the Lord. The religious poor man is a foster-child of tranquility of soul, free from every affection, who cares no more for things present than for things absent, or for those which do not exist at all; having entered into solitude, he will count all things as refuse (Phil III, 8). But if he grieves over being in need of anything, he is not yet poor. The poor man pours out pure prayers to God. The greedy man seeks idols of material things in his prayer. Those who live under the command of another are alien to all cupidity of money; for since they have even emancipated their own bodies, what can they possess thereafter as their own? ^D Yet they labor under one disadvantage, that they are facile and always prepared to change their place. I have seen those for whom accumulated goods were an aid to remain in a place, but I judged those to be more blessed who remained in a place for the Lord's sake. He who has tasted of heavenly things easily despises earthly things. But he who has had no experience of the taste of heavenly things is delighted by human wealth. A poor man without judgment falls into two evils: the present

^A life and the future. Let us take care, O monks, lest we appear worse than the birds, which do not worry about tomorrow and do not gather. He is great who religiously renounces his money; but he is holy who of his own free will departs from the rights of his own ego. The former will indeed receive a hundredfold, whether through money or through heavenly gifts and graces; but the latter will possess eternal life. The waves will never desert the sea, nor will the ^B avaricious man ever lack trouble and anger. He who has despised riches has freed himself from all lawsuits and contentions. A slave to gold will struggle unto death over a needle. Unwavering faith cuts away anxieties; and the remembrance of death disowns the very body. There was no trace of avarice in Job; therefore, even when deprived of everything, he remained unperturbed. Avarice is called and is the root of all evils; for it has produced hatred, thefts, envies, separations, enmities, storms, ^C grudges, lack of compassion, and murders. Through a small fire, people have often burned down a great forest, and through a small virtue, many have escaped all the present evils we have mentioned; this is called detachment. This is born from the experience and taste of the knowledge of God, and the concern for the account to be given at the departure. The discourse concerning the mother of all evils is not unknown to those who have read with attention (3). For it says in its wicked and accursed progeny that its second offspring is the stone of insensibility; but the many-headed appearance of idolatry has hindered me from assigning to it its proper place. How it obtained the third place among the ^D discerning Fathers in that chain of the eight evils, I do not know. But since we have sufficiently explained avarice, we have decided to speak next of that stupor of soul, as it is third in order, though second in the line of descent. After which we shall treat briefly of sleep and wakefulness, as well as of childish and effeminate fear, which are vices and diseases common to those who are beginners.

He who has attained the seventeenth prize of the contest journeys toward heaven in an immaterial way.

SCHOLIA ON GRADUM XVII

On Poverty of Spirit

Scholion 1

Another from Saint Maximus

Another from the same

a monk; this is the work, this is the labor. ^A

Scholion 2

Scholion 3

GRADUS XVIII. On the insensible stupor of the mind, or the death of the soul before the death of the body

Stupor of the senses, as much in the body as in the spirit, is a deadened sense, which from long-standing disease and negligence ends in a stupor of the senses. Indolence is a settled negligence, a numbness of the mind, the offspring of presumption, a fetter upon alacrity, a snare to the noble soul, an ignorance of compunction, a door to desperation, the mother of forgetfulness; and when it has brought forth forgetfulness, the daughter becomes the mother of her own mother, which utterly excludes the fear of the Lord. A religious man who is stupid and senseless is a foolish philosopher who condemns himself by his own teaching; an orator who pleads a case against himself; a blind physician who tries to see; ^C a doctor who disputes about healing a wound, and meanwhile does not cease to irritate the wound itself so as to make it fester. He discourses against the disease, and yet he himself does not abstain from harmful foods; he prays against himself, and immediately returns to his wicked habit of acting. While he is engaged in this, he is indignant against himself, and yet the wretched man is not ashamed of his own words. "I am doing evil," he cries out, and yet he eagerly persists in it; his mouth prays against it, but his body fights for it. He philosophizes about death, and behaves as if he were immortal. He sighs over the passing of this life, and sleeps as if he were to live forever. He discourses about abstinence, and yet he indulges his gullet and belly liberally. He reads about the final judgment, and begins to smile; he discourses about vain glory, and while in the very act of reading he seeks after vain glory. ^D He tortures himself with vigils, and immediately sinks into a deep sleep. He celebrates the praises of prayer, from which, however, he flees as if from a scourge, and abhors them. He proclaims blessed obedience, which he himself is the first to violate (and whom he himself is the first to resist). He extols those who are held by desire for nothing, and yet for the most worthless scrap of cloth he is not ashamed to grow angry and bicker. He is indignant when he is angry, and is angry again because he has been indignant; and when, being thus overcome, he falls, he is overcome again and falls, yet the stupid man does not feel his ruin. Being well-fed, he repents, but having progressed only a little, he adds gluttony to gluttony, and devours again. He affirms that silence is blessed, and yet through loquacity he prattles much in praise of silence; he teaches about meekness, and in the very act of teaching he is often angry, and upon feeling the bitterness, he is angry again;

returning to his senses, he groans, and with a shake of his head he relapses once more. He condemns laughter, and teaches while himself smirking about mourning. He confesses himself guilty of vainglory before some, and through this very profession he hunts for vainglory. He shamelessly contemplates the faces of others, while discoursing on modesty. Living in the world outside of solitude, he praises the solitary life, and being stupid, he does not understand that he is finding fault with and shaming himself. He pursues with praises those who are kind to the poor, while he himself in the interim ^A reviles beggars. In all things he accuses himself, and does not strive to repent—or rather, I should say, he cannot.

I have seen many people of this kind who, having heard of the departure from life and the awesome judgment seat, and having been moved to tears, still hastened to the holy Table while their eyes were yet weeping. And I marveled at how this mistress and rot-producer, this insensibility, having been hardened by long-standing indifference, was able to overcome even mourning itself. According to the meager power that I possess, I exposed the wicked arts and the weals of the wounds of this stony, headlong, and mad—and foolish—mistress. For I cannot endure to talk and discourse with her at length. Yet if there is anyone who, taught by experience, is able to heal these wounds, let him not delay. For my part, I am not ashamed to confess ingenuously that my strength is lacking in this matter, as I am myself highly subject to this vice, whose ruses and frauds I could not even have detected by myself, had I not taken this wicked ambushress by force and, having lashed her with the scourge of the fear of the Lord and unceasing prayer, ^B compelled her to confess what I have written about her. And so that tyrannical and evil creature spoke: "My confederates, she says, laugh while looking upon corpses; while standing in prayer, they are all stony and hard and dark; approaching the holy Table, they are insensible, and they receive the heavenly Gift just as if they were tasting a morsel of plain bread; when I see those who are pricked with compunction, I mock them. All the good things born of courage and longing, I have learned to slaughter, led by the father who begot me. I am the mother of laughter; I am the nurse of sleep; I am the friend of satiety; I am joined to feigned piety; though reproved, I do not suffer." ^C I, wretched as I was, having been struck with fear by the oracle of this madwoman, asked and wished to learn the name of the one who had begotten her. And she replied: "I am not possessed of one single birth; my conception is somehow mixed and unstable; satiety strengthens me, time increases me, and evil habit has solidified me; whoever is held by her will not be freed from me. Persist in meditating on the eternal judgment with many vigils, and perhaps I will yield to you a little. Look carefully at the cause from which I was born in you, and struggle against my mother, for I do not have only one in all things. Pray frequently in the ossuaries of the dead; paint an indelible image of ^D these in your heart; for if this is not painted with the brush of fasting, you shall never defeat me for all eternity."

SCHOLIA TO GRADUS XVIII. On the Stupor of the Soul.

^A Scholion 1. He suffers from stupor of the nerves whose instruments of sensation are idle and enervated, and who is destitute of the faculties of nature by which he might perform the duties of the senses; and the same reasoning applies to the thoughts in one who suffers from stupor of the soul.

Scholion 2. Stupor of the soul and forgetfulness beget one another; the one is the mother of the other, and the offspring. Forgetfulness is the abolition of memory.

Scholion 3. Adverse to himself both in his words and in his deeds.

Scholion 4. He who is sick in his soul, and yet suggests to others the counsel of living rightly, does just the same as a blind man who points out the way to others.

Scholion 5. There are some who speak of the works by which the kingdom of God is acquired, yet do not perform them themselves. And there are some who do perform the works of the kingdom, but not cautiously and not with knowledge—those of whom the word of the Savior speaks: *The kingdom of God is within you* (Luke xvii, 21), these are few and rare and difficult to find.

Another. This is a burden, that we have "tranquility" (apatheia)—that is, a state of the soul devoid of the disturbance of any passion—on our lips, while we retain in our heart iniquity and malice, or vice.

Another. ^B Nothing is more impoverished and miserable than a mind which is devoid of God, yet philosophizes and disputes about the things of God.

Another. He who confesses sweetness but does not taste of it, he shows it to be bitter.

Another. He who shows himself to be learned, and yet is not rather practical, suffers from the disease of an insensate stupor.

Another. Note that he who condemns himself in word receives no profit from this, unless he also gains a conversion of his life.

Scholion of Gregory of Nyssa 6. Those whose magnitude of evil has at the same time taken away the sense of what they are suffering.

Another by Photius the Patriarch. The gradual falling away from virtues, by how much it withdraws from the sense of the one sinning, by that much does it render the damage more grievous; for after it has extinguished the sense of evil, it renders the disease incurable.

Scholion 7. Those from whose eyes the fear of God has departed and hidden itself, an insensate stupor of the soul encompasses them.

Another by Isaac. A mind corrupted by the leaven of vices cannot flee the [forgetfulness]

oblivion, and wisdom does not open its door to such a one.

GRADUS XIX. On sleep, and prayer, and the chanting of psalms in assembly.

Sleep is in some measure a constitutional function of nature, an image of death, and a cessation of the senses. There is one reason for sleep, but it has many causes, such as desire. I speak of nature, food, demons, or perhaps even from extreme and intense fasting; by which the flesh, being weakened, thereafter wishes to console itself through sleep, just as excessive drinking is bound to habit; such is excessive sleep. Wherefore, at the very beginning of obedience, let us struggle against it. For it is difficult to heal a long-standing habit. ^B Let us observe, and we shall find that when the spiritual trumpet signals, the brothers gather visibly, but the enemies gather invisibly. Therefore, those who stand by the bed after waking suggest that we lie down again, saying, "Wait a while, until the introductory hymns are completed, and then you will go down to church." Others stand by those who are praying, in order to plunge them into sleep. Others urge the belly violently and unusually; others incite us to engage in chatter in the church; others pull the mind toward impure thoughts; others incline us against the wall as if we were weak and exhausted; ^C others fatigue us with frequent yawning; some even cause us to laugh at the very time of prayer, so that through that laughter they may stir up the indignation of God against us; others force us to hasten out of laziness; others urge us to chant more slowly, out of self-indulgence. There are times when they also sit beside the mouth, making it closed and difficult to open. He who considers that he is standing before God, with his heart aware, will be found a motionless pillar in prayer, deluded by none of the things mentioned above. ^D The truly obedient religious turns often and suddenly to prayer, entirely illuminated and flooded and exhilarated with heavenly joys. For such a religious has already been prepared for prayer beforehand, like an excellent combatant, through most sincere and faithful service. All can indeed pray among many people, but for the many it is more convenient to chant with one alone who shares the same soul and affection. For solitary prayer is for the few; if you chant with many, you cannot contemplate without the forms of images. Let there be for you, to occupy your mind, the meditation of the sacred sayings which are being recited, or even a certain prayer, while you wait for the verse of your neighbor. It is not fitting for anyone to have a side-work during prayer, or rather, a different work. For the angel who appeared to the great Antony taught this clearly. For the furnace tests gold, but the standing for prayer tests the zeal and love of monks toward God. It is not fitting in any way that something else be done during prayers, whether it be necessary or unnecessary.

SCHOLIA ON STEP XIX

On Sleep

STEP XX

On bodily vigils, how through them the vigil of the spirit comes to be, and how these ought to be practiced.

^A Those who surround the kings of the earth—some are unarmed and naked, others carry staves, others shields, and others stand with swords; yet there is a great and incomparable difference between those who take first place and those who are among the lowest. For the former are by nature the true kinsmen and intimates of the king. And such is the custom among them. But come, let us also look at how we behave when we stand before God our King in daily, evening, and nightly vigils and prayers. For some, in their evening vigil, are free and stripped of every care, and extend their hands to God in prayer. Others present themselves to God in these vigils through the chanting of psalms. ^B Others keep watch through the reading of sacred writings; others, weaker in mind, yet by performing work, struggle bravely against sleep; others strive to acquire compunction through constant meditation upon death. Of all these, the first and the last perseveringly keep watch in prayers pleasing to God. The others follow the monastic manner of prayer. The third group follows the lowest and humblest degree of exercise; yet God accepts and evaluates the gifts offered according to the proportion of their pious will and capacity. A watchful eye wipes away all the defilements of the soul. Much sleep dulls and blinds the soul. A watchful monk ^C is an enemy of luxury; but the sleepy one is its bedfellow. Vigils extinguish the torches of lust, drive away foul dreams, suffuse the eyes with tears, render the conscience of the heart tender and delicate, keep thoughts under control and guard them; they consume food like a furnace and ^D burn up the vices of the passions.

^A A monk who loves God says to the trumpet of prayer, as it sounds, "Well done, well done!" But the slothful man says, "Woe is me, woe is me!" For the preparation of the table tests the gluttons, but the practice of prayer tests those who love God. The former rejoices when he sees the table, but the latter is downcast. Much sleep is the parent of forgetfulness, but vigil purifies the memory. Farmers gather their wealth on the threshing floor and in the winepress; monks gather the treasure of heavenly knowledge in their evening and nightly vigils, and in the exercise and contemplation of the mind. Much sleep is a wicked thief, who steals and robs the slothful and idle of half their life, or even more. An undisciplined monk ^B is watchful in conversation, but when the hour of prayer arrives, his eyes become heavy. A frivolous monk is energetic in idle talk, but when reading is offered, he cannot keep from sleeping. The trumpet of the resurrection of the dead is like a summons to those asleep, and so is the awakening of those who have been caught by idle talk. The tyrant sleep is a deceptive friend; he often leaves us when we are satiated, but fights strongly against us in our hunger and thirst. He suggests that we do manual work during prayer, because otherwise he cannot destroy the prayer of those who are vigilant. He approaches beginners in the warfare first, so that he may make them slothful from the start, or so that he may prepare the way for the demon of fornication. Until we are freed from this, let us not refuse to chant with a multitude, for often out of shame we do not drowse; the dog hates the hare, and the spirit of vainglory hates sleep. After the day, the merchant reckoneth his profit; ^C and after the psalmody, the monk sitting down reckons his gain. Wait soberly after your prayer, and then you will see the troops of demons, as if defeated by us, trying to pierce us after our prayer with foul fantasies. Sit and watch, and you will see who those are who are accustomed to snatch away the first fruits of the soul. Sometimes, after our sleep, through constant practice, we meditate on the words of the psalms; but sometimes the demons suggest these things to us, so that they may lift us up to pride. The third thing I did not wish to say, but someone has compelled me to speak it. The soul that meditates on the word of the Lord unceasingly throughout the day is naturally accustomed to dwell upon it even in sleep. For this is, in truth, the reward and recompense of the former exercise, by which we ward off the fantasies of the wicked demons. ^D Step twenty: he who has surpassed this has received light [or: has shone] in his heart.

SCHOLIA ON STEP XX.

^A spent in the exercises of repentance, prayers, and prostrations upon the ground. There is also one who spends the whole time in weeping, in tears, and in wailing over his committed sins. Vigils are also required when someone, at the beginning of the evening, begins with the recitation of the psalms and spends the rest of the night in troparia, or short songs directed to God and the saints. They are held, again, when praises are sung to God or devoted to a reading. Some also institute them for themselves who make it a law for themselves not to bend or kneel, after the example of him who was attacked by thoughts of lust.

Scholion 2. From the weakness of the mind indeed, but with the constant patience by which one sustains the war against sleep.

Scholion 3. God judges and estimates our works according to the standard of our purpose: The Lord, he says, grant thee according to thy heart [in margin: 1 Reg. 1, 17].

^B Scholion 4. We are commanded to be vigilant always in prayers and readings, but especially on feast days. A vigilant monk sharpens his mind and renders it more subtle for contemplation, (which is) useful to the soul; much sleep dulls it and makes it coarser. But beware, lest you spend your vigils on idle tales or wicked thoughts. It is better to sleep than to keep vigil for idle conversations and thoughts.

Scholion 5. When, through vigils, the spirits of malice are weakened and wars are mitigated; or because through vigils the souls of men are moved to conceive sorrow for sins. For vigils crush the soul ^C and lead it to humility.

Scholion 6. The trumpet which excites us to prayer separates the slothful from the diligent and alert. For the pious thoughts of those who love God cannot endure in a perturbed mind, but rest in a heart free from anxieties.

Scholion 7. Oblivion of itself has no power, but collects strength from our sloth in proportion.

Another. Do not say: "What shall I do? For oblivion creeps upon me against my will." Why, when you were mindful, did you neglect and evade your duty?

Another. Do what you remember; what you have forgotten will not be counted against you, but it will be revealed to you; meanwhile, do not rashly surrender your thoughts and your mind to forgetfulness.

^D Scholion 8. It is better to sleep in silence and knowledge than to keep vigil with empty chatter.

Scholion 9. The day has passed and the struggle; the gain is preserved. The merchant

^A inquires what he has done, if he has suffered loss and if he has been defeated; whether he acted according to man, or struggled according to God: for the one belongs to a lover of God, the other to a lover of glory; and the one produces gain, the other loss.

Scholion 10. He who, according to the example of David, meditates upon the law of the Lord all the day, even in sleep revolves this through the images of phantasy, so that in him that saying is fulfilled: *In the law of the Lord will he meditate day and night*; and that other: *I...* ^B

STEP XXI. Concerning effeminate cowardice.

If you pursue virtue in cenobitic monasteries or in companies, you are not naturally inclined to be attacked by cowardice. But if you struggle in more secluded places, take care that the offspring of vainglory—cowardice, the daughter of unbelief—does not master you; for it is a childish character in a soul that is old and vainglorious. Cowardice is a desertion of faith in the expectation of the unexpected; fear is a danger rehearsed in advance. Or again: fear is the trembling sensation of the heart, agitated and distressed by uncertain calamities; fear is the lack of perfect certainty. A proud soul ^C is a slave to cowardice, trusting in itself, and trembling at the sounds of creatures and shadows. Those who mourn and have become insensible do not possess cowardice; but those who are cowardly have often suffered ecstasy, and rightly so. For the Lord justly abandons the proud, so that we others may be taught not to be exalted; for all who are cowardly are vainglorious. But not all who are not cowardly are humble, since even thieves and grave-robbers are not always cowardly. In those places where you are accustomed to be terrified, do not hesitate to go at an unseasonable hour. If you yield to this a little, this childish and ridiculous passion will grow old with you. When you are going, arm yourself with prayer; and having reached the place, stretch out your hands, ^D and lash the enemies with the name of Jesus; for there is no weapon more powerful in heaven or on earth. Once delivered from this malady, praise the One who redeemed you; for the One you thank will guard you forever. You will never be able to fill your belly all at once, just as you cannot conquer cowardice all at once; it will recede more quickly in proportion to one's mourning, and in proportion to the lack of that mourning we remain cowards. "My hair and flesh shuddered," said Eliphaz, describing the craftiness of the demon. Sometimes it is the soul that is cowardly first, and sometimes the body, and it transmits the passion to the other. When the flesh has become cowardly, if the untimely fear has not entered into the soul, the deliverance from the malady is near. But when we have truly been freed from cowardice, it is not the darkness and solitude of places that strengthens the demons against us, but the barrenness of the soul; for it is when first the soul, and then the body, begins to tremble,

when the disciplinary work of the Lord begins. The servant of the Lord having become [such], he will fear only his Master; but he who does not yet fear Him is often afraid of his own shadow. Yet when an invisible spirit stands by, the body fears; but when an angel stands by, the soul of the humble rejoices. Wherefore, ^A when we perceive his presence by its effect, let us stand up quickly to pray, for our good guardian has come to us to pray with us and to help us.

SCHOLIA ON STEP XXI

On effeminate timidity.

[i]Scholion of Isaac the monk 1.[/i] A timid man shows that he labors under two diseases: little faith and love of his own body.

[i]Scholion 2.[/i] When someone falls away from the measure and mean of prudence, he becomes simultaneously timid and audacious, the soul lying sick and in an ill state. For just as the body, when it loses the temperate blend of its qualities and becomes dyscratic, is tempted and captured by all diseases; so too the soul, after it loses its greatness and excellence along with humility, puts on a kind of weak habit and nature, and becomes timid and audacious at once, and thus is rendered foolish, and ignores itself ^B—and he who ignores himself, how will he know those things which are above him, [namely] celestial things?

[i]Scholion 3.[/i] He who receives mourning without consolation, this one overcomes fear.

[i]Isaac 4.[/i] Audacity of heart and contempt for dangers arise from one of two things: either from the hardness and numbness of the heart, or from great faith towards God. And pride follows the hardness of heart, but humility of heart follows faith.

[i]Scholion 5.[/i] Just as frightful and horrible phantoms of masks terrify infants, which are objects of laughter to perfect men; so too do shadows [terrify] the proud. Or it is a childlike thing—he said—that such terrors are accustomed to vex and attack those who are infants in Christ, not those who are already perfect.

[i]Scholion 6.[/i] It is impossible for one who truly fears God to be subject to timidity, ^C since He Himself has said that no one is to be feared except Him.

[i]Scholion 7.[/i] Modesty of mind and simplicity of heart, illuminated by the grace of discernment, causes one to discern the differences of the spirits.

STEP XXII

On multiform vainglory.

There are those who are accustomed to treat of vainglory separately from pride, with a distinct heading and discourse, whence they also affirm that there are eight primary and principal vices. But Gregory [the Theologian]—

and others have again set forth these seven, with whose opinion I also am inclined to agree. For who, having conquered vainglory, is possessed by pride? They differ from one another only as much as a boy differs from a man, or as grain differs from bread; the former is the beginning, and the latter the end and the absolute vice. Therefore, since the occasion calls for it, let us speak briefly ^B concerning the beginning and the fulfillment of this impious haughtiness. For he who attempts to philosophize at length regarding these matters is like one who toils in vain to weigh the winds.

Vainglory, as to its form, is a change of nature, a perversion of morals, and a sensitivity to mockery; as for its quality, it is a dissipation of labors, a loss of sweat, a treachery against one's treasure, an offspring of unbelief, and a forerunner of pride. It is a shipwreck in the harbor; it is as an ant on the threshing floor—though a tiny creature, it plots against all labor and fruit. The ant waits for the wheat to be gathered, and vainglory waits for the treasure of virtues to be accumulated. The one rejoices in stealing, the other in scattering. The spirit of despondency rejoices to see a multitude of sins; the spirit of vainglory rejoices to see a multiplication of virtues; for the door of the former is a multitude of wounds, but for the latter, it is a wealth of labors. Watch carefully, and you will find even until the grave that this vanity flourishes in garments, perfumes, processions, aromatics, and other things. The sun shines upon all things abundantly, and vainglory rejoices in all good practices. For example, if I fast, I am vainglorious; and if, to avoid being known, I break my fast, I am again vainglorious for being considered prudent. When dressed elegantly, I am defeated by it; and in changing to poor clothes, I am vainglorious again. If I speak, I am defeated; and if I keep silent, I am defeated again. Throw this caltrop however you will, it still stands with its point upward.

The vainglorious man is an idol-worshipping believer; he ostensibly honors God, but desires to please men rather than God. Everyone who loves to argue is a vainglorious man. The fasting of the vainglorious is without reward, and his prayer is untimely, for he performs both for the sake of human praise. The vainglorious ascetic is doubly wronged: he wastes his body and receives no reward. Who would not laugh at the practitioner of vainglory, who stands in the singing of psalms and is moved by this [vanity]? Sometimes it makes him laugh, and at other times it makes him cry before everyone. ^C The Lord often hides from our eyes even those good things that we possess. But the man who praises us—or rather, who leads us astray—has opened our eyes through his praise. When these are opened, the wealth of our virtues vanishes from us. The flatterer is a minister of demons, a guide to pride, a destroyer of compunction, an exterminator of virtues, and a perverter of the way. "For those who call you blessed, they deceive you," says the prophet ^D (Isa. III, 12).

It is the mark of a truly noble and ready soul to suffer and digest injuries and insults with a generous heart; but not to be captured by any sweetness of praise is the mark of a man who is truly religious and holy. I have seen those who were mourning become inflamed with anger when praised, as if they were exchanging one passion for another in a public assembly. "For what man knows the things of a man, saving the spirit of a man which is in him?" (1 Cor. 11, 11). Let those, therefore, be ashamed and silenced who dare to praise and call us blessed to our faces. When someone, even of your close neighbors or friends, has slandered you, whether in your presence or absence, show your love then by praising him. It is no small praise to banish human praises entirely from the soul; but it is far more praiseworthy to execrate the praises of demons. He does not prove his humility to me who disparages himself in words or pretends to be vile (for who does not, or how could one not, bear with himself?), but rather he who is reproached with insults by another and does not diminish his love toward the one who reproached him.

^A I have noted that the spirit of vainglory sometimes suggests certain thoughts to one brother, which it then reveals to another, effectively causing the latter to reveal the secrets of his own heart to the former, and in doing so, henceforth to proclaim the prior one blessed as if he were a divine prophet. Sometimes this same wicked demon of vainglory is even wont to invade the members of the body, so that they tremble and leap with certain movements. Resist him also when he proposes to you posts of priesthood, or the administration of monasteries, or positions of authority. For it is difficult to drive a dog away from a butcher's shop or a table. Whenever he sees someone who has progressed, even slightly, in the quiet and tranquil state of solitude, he immediately urges him to leave the desert and go out into the world. "Go," he says, "to secure the salvation of perishing souls."

^B There is one form of the Ethiopians, and another of statues; there is one manner of vainglory among those who live in cenobies, and another among those who live in solitude. The arrival of secular men prompts vainglory in the soul, and it incites the more shallow monks to go out to meet them and cast themselves at their feet, simulating humility while being swollen with pride. They compose their demeanor and voice toward modesty, while meanwhile casting their eyes upon the hands of the guests in the hope of receiving something, calling them their masters and leaders, and the preservers of their lives next to God.

^C When sitting at the table, vainglory urges abstinence, and sharply rebukes those who are lower; among the prayers, it makes the lazy seem zealous, the hoarse and discordant seem sonorous and musical, and the sleepy seem watchful. It flatters the choir-master and begs that the first parts in the psalmody be assigned to it, calling him "father" and "master," until the guests depart. It lifts up the more honored in the monastery into pride, and renders the lower and more abject mindful of injuries [contentious]. Vainglory very often brings about ignominy instead of honor; for it affects its own disciples, when they become angry with one another, with great shame.

^D Vainglory presents those who are naturally irascible as gentle before others. It exults marvelously in natural gifts and endowments, and through these very things, it casts down the miserable. I have seen the evil demon making his own servant [continue next page]

^A harass and persecute; for when an outsider had interfered with one who was quarreling, that miserable man immediately put aside his anger and handed himself over to vainglory, because he could not serve two masters (I mean anger and vainglory) at the same time. A thrall of vainglory leads a double life; for in the habit of his body or his clothing he dwells with monks, but in his mind and his thoughts he is in the world. Let us strive to please God, and we shall taste of heavenly glory; and he who has tasted of that shall despise all the glory of the world. Indeed, I marvel if anyone who has never tasted the former has ever despised all of the latter. Often we have been despoiled by vainglory, but then, turning about, we have more skillfully despoiled it. I have seen some who began their spiritual labor out of vainglory, and though the foundation was faulty, the end became praiseworthy, because their intention was changed. He who is puffed up ^B by natural advantages—I mean acuteness, natural aptitude, learning, ease of expression, and all such things that are ours without labor—will never attain to graces that are above nature. For he who is unfaithful in little is unfaithful also in much, and is vainglorious. There are some who, to attain the highest tranquility of soul, the treasure of heavenly gifts, the grace of performing miracles, and the knowledge of future things, wear out and afflict their bodies, while the miserable wretches are ignorant that the prerogatives of such gifts are not acquired by labors, but by humility. Whoever demands gifts in return for his efforts lays a very slippery foundation for his works. But he who acknowledges himself a debtor will be enriched by God with unexpected and sudden treasures. Beware of trusting the winnower, or rather the trickster, when he suggests that, for the benefit of the hearers, you should proclaim your virtues and publicly set them forth as if in a triumph. For what does it profit a man ^C if he gains the whole world, yet harms himself? Nothing so moves spectators to piety as simple, humble, and sincere manners and speech: for it is a lesson and an example to others, that they might never be puffed up in pride, and I know not what greater fruit could arise from this.

Someone among those who are able to see clearly observed and recounted what he saw. When, says he, I was sitting in the assembly of the brothers, there came two wicked demons, one of vainglory and the other of pride, who took their seats on either side of me, and the one of vainglory pricked my side with his finger, urging me to tell publicly some vision or work I had performed in the desert. But when I had shaken this one off by saying, *Let them be turned back and put to shame who devise evil against me* (Ps. XXXIX, 15), immediately the one on my left ^D whispered in my ear: "Well done, well done, you have done brilliantly! And you have become great, having conquered my most shameless mother." To him I, hitting the mark, took up the next part of the verse and said: *Let them be turned back immediately, put to shame, who say to me: Well done, well done, you have done brilliantly.* When I asked the same father how vainglory is the mother of pride, he replied: "Praises do exalt

^A and inflate the soul; but once it is exalted, pride then takes hold of it and carries it up to the heavens, only to cast it down into the depths. There is a glory that comes from God—for He says: 'Those who honor Me I will honor'—and there is a glory that follows from the machinations of the devil. For He says: 'Woe to you when all men speak well of you.' You will clearly recognize the former glory when you consider it a harm and turn away from it by every means, and wherever you go, you conceal your way of life. But you will recognize the second (namely, pride) when, if you do anything at all, it suggests to us the impure thought of making it seem to men as if we possess the virtue which we lack, so that we may appear to others. For it (vainglory) falsely interprets the command: 'Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works.'

^B Quite often, the Lord has set the vainglorious man upon the path to non-vainglory through an unexpected indignity. The beginning of victory over vainglory is the guard of the mouth and the desire for dishonor; he has reached the middle stage who cuts off all wandering thoughts that draw him toward the pursuits of vainglory; and he has reached the end and perfection (if, indeed, there is any end to this bottomless abyss) who is not ashamed to perform publicly, without any sensation of pain, whatever things pertain to our humiliation. There is no reason to hide what brings you shame out of fear of causing offense to others. Moreover, depending on the reason and the varying nature of the fault, different remedies must be applied, as it seems. Whenever we grasp at glory, or when it comes to us unbidden and unasked for by others, or when we attempt to undertake some ^C task out of a desire for vainglory: then let us return to the memory of our salutary mourning, and let us quickly call to mind the posture of fear and trembling in which we stand in secret prayer before God; and we shall undoubtedly beat back that impudent vainglory, if indeed the pursuit of sincere prayer is our concern. But if this does not help us, then let us immediately turn to the memory of death and the end of life. And if even then it does not yield, let us at least fear the shame that follows vainglory: 'For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,' even here in this present life before the age to come. When those who praise, or rather deceive us—for they are mistaken—begin to praise us, let us ^D quickly call to mind the innumerable multitude of our sins, and we shall find ourselves unworthy of the things being said or done. There are some among those who grasp for glory whom God must hear in certain of their petitions, and whose prayers and vows God is wont to forestall, lest, if they obtain all they ask for through prayer, they become even more bloated and boastful. Those of simpler mind among the religious are not usually harmed to the same degree by this poison; for vainglory is the enemy of simplicity and the mistress of simulation. Like a worm, while it grows more and more, it is carried aloft, and when vainglory has been perfected, it brings forth pride, the author and finisher of all evils.

^A He who is free from this disease is very close to salvation; but he who is still held by it appears to be far from the glory of the saints.

Step XXII. He who is free from vainglory will not fall into pride, which is hateful to God.

SCHOLIA ON STEP XXII. On Vainglory.

Scholion 1. You who have conquered vainglory, beware of luxury, lest, while you flee from honors, you fall into ignominy.

Evagrius 2. The spirit of pride brings about the most grievous falls for the soul. For it persuades it to deny that God is its helper, and to think that it is itself the cause of its right actions and virtues. And thus, it exalts itself against its brothers as if they were foolish, because not everyone realizes this about it. There follow this, anger and sadness, and—that which is the final evil—an alienation of mind, and madness, and a multitude of demons seen in the air.

Scholion 3. Vicious passions, when stirred, drive away vainglory, but when they are removed, they return.

Another. It is no small struggle to be delivered from vainglory. But a man is delivered by the hidden practice of virtues and by more frequent prayer. The sign of deliverance is no longer being resentful toward one who speaks ill of you, or who speaks at length against you. ^C

Scholion 4. The Father does not say that one deprived of sense acts with vainglory; but that vainglory is not ignorant of these things, such as splendid funerals and pompous processions.

Mark 5. The root of vile desire is human praise, not when we hear it, but when we accept it.

Scholion 6. When you have conquered some of the more disgraceful vices, such as gluttony, or lust, or anger, or greed, the thought of vainglory immediately flies upon you; and if you conquer this as well, that of pride follows. ^D

Scholion of Basil the Great 7. Whatever is done not for the sake of charity toward God, but for the sake of human praise—whatever it may be—does not receive the praise of piety, but bears the judgment of human-pleasing, or contentiousness, or envy, or some such cause. Therefore, the Lord also calls it a work of iniquity, saying to those who said: "We have eaten in your presence," and the rest: "Depart from me, workers of iniquity" (Matt. VII, 23). For how are they not workers of iniquity, who [misuse] the gifts of God...

for the pursuit of their own pleasures?

285 ^A Another. He is a fool who hunts for human praise and hopes for nothing else.

Scholion 8. Let us beware of calling one another blessed to each other's faces; for this is the way of flatterers, and is inspired by evil spirits; while the other is the mark of a light-minded person, and one who exposes his good works to plunder. The first is therefore a corruptor of good things, a sort of messenger of the devil; the second is an unthinking heir who readily throws away his own labors; and both are privy to each other’s destruction.

Scholion 9. The perfection of humility consists in bearing false accusations with joy. Another, by Isaac. The truly humble man is not disturbed when he is treated unjustly, nor does he defend or excuse his own actions when he is wronged; but he accepts the calumny as if it were the truth, and he is not anxious to persuade men that he was slandered, but instead asks for forgiveness.

Scholion 10. You think that you possess humility, but you cannot even endure to be accused yourself. If, therefore, you desire to know whether you truly have a humble mind, examine and test yourself in the matters already mentioned.

Scholion 11. Vain glory is an instrument and ^C machine of the devil; and you know that by this means he even performs miracles. Another, by Photius. What a man desires, he imagines to be present even when it is absent, having a will that acts as the creator and master of nature. Another, by the same. He who seizes the opportunity to plunder wealth from the calamities of others—even if he should appear to some to be doing good from it—does not demonstrate his humanity by what he gives, but rather exposes his hatred of man and his tyrannical disposition by what he has seized.

Scholion 12. Some—the hermits—boast of their sparing diet and frugality, while the cenobites boast of their good works.

Scholion 13. The greedy man possesses the goods of the poor: but you, when you take these from him and make them your own property, have appeared more wicked than that wicked man, and more greedy than the greedy one. ^D Another. Question. How is it then that many greedy men do not suffer ill? Answer. They will suffer greatly, if not immediately. And if they escape for the present, fear all the more, for they are being reserved for a greater punishment; and even if they themselves should escape retribution here, their successors or heirs will surely pay the penalty later, nor will they escape judgment.

^A Another Question. And how is this just, he says? Answer. It is very just; for you, having become the heir to an estate acquired by injustice, even if you did not yourself perpetrate the robbery, you nonetheless possess what was stolen. That man laid up for himself sin and wrath for the day of wrath, and you became heir to the sin and the wrath; and you will be held to account for everything. The secular laws also know these things; they do not command that one should demand return of goods from those who snatched and stole them, but from those who possess and are possessing them.

Scholion 14 of Maximus. There are certain things that are by nature good when performed by men, but which are not good again because of the cause; for instance, fasting, vigil, prayer, psalmody, almsgiving, and hospitality—these are by nature good works, but when they are done for the sake of vainglory, they are not good.

Scholion 15. The man hungry for vainglory feigns freedom from anger; when, therefore, he is caught in this, instead of honor, he suffers dishonor.

Scholion 16. Be attentive to this accursed passion which mixes itself with the virtues until it destroys them. For unless a man roots out this shameful passion, he cannot make progress in the divine virtues; for it is this that brings all evils in its train.

Another, of Saint Maximus. Do not measure yourself against weaker men, but rather measure yourself against those who have excelled in charity. For if you measure yourself against the former, you fall into the pit of pride; but by extending yourself towards the latter, you make progress in the height of humility.

^C Scholion 17. *Momētēs*, that is, one to be blamed. The boastfulness of Nebuchadnezzar is to be blamed, but the moderation—that is, humility—born at the end from the knowledge of God is to be praised.

Maximus 18. If you desire to become knowledgeable and moderate, and not to be a slave to the passion of pride, always seek in all that exists what it is that lies hidden from your knowledge. And discovering how very many and diverse things are escaping your notice, you will marvel at your own knowledge, and you will lower your conceit; and by knowing yourself, you will understand many great things, since imagining that one knows prevents one from progressing toward true knowledge.

Scholion 19 of Isaac. Each virtue is the mother of the next. If, therefore, you abandon the mother that gives birth to the virtues, and depart to seek the daughters before possessing their mother, they will be found to be vipers in your soul, unless you cast them away from you.

^A Scholion from the epistle which the holy Athanasius, bishop, wrote to a virgin. 20. If you expose your life to others, vainglory will arise in you, and you will suffer loss from it. But if you find some soul of the same mind as yourself, who works for God as you do, reveal the mystery to this one alone in secret; for there is no danger of vainglory there. For you have spoken so that that soul may be saved. Therefore, speak profitable things to those who have a desire to hear. But if you pray, or chant, or read, sit by yourself; and let no one hear you except you alone, and if you have one or two virgins of the same mind.

Another. If you desire your sins to be covered by the Lord, do not reveal your virtues to other men; for what we do in these matters, God does in turn regarding them.

Another. As a treasure once revealed becomes scarce, so virtue, when it is made known and publicized, vanishes.

S. Maximus 21. Those who assiduously seek our souls (so that they may destroy them) seek them through wicked passions and thoughts lurking in the mind, so that they may cast them into sin, either through thoughts or through deeds. When, therefore, they perceive that these are being rejected by the soul, they will be struck with shame and will blush; but when they see it occupied in spiritual contemplation, they will be utterly turned away and confounded.

Scholion 22. Vainglory, when removed, begets an estimation of itself, or a swelling of the mind; while it remains, it begets arrogance.

Scholion 23. When you see two wicked men loving one another, know that one is serving the other in carrying out a wicked will.

Question 24. When the thought of vainglory assails one, saying that you have accomplished a virtue and done good, ought one not to contradict the thought?

Answer. At whatever hour you begin to contend with that thought, it becomes stronger and more impetuous. For it finds more things with which to oppose you than you do, nor does the Holy Spirit help you as much. For it sees that I appear, as it were, boasting that I am sufficient in myself to conquer the vices of the soul. For just as one who has a spiritual father commits everything to his father, and is thereafter without any care, and does not fear the judgment of God, so he who delivers himself to God ought not to have any care at all about the thought, nor contradict it, nor allow it any access to himself. But if it has entered, take it up to your father and say to him: "I have no business with this; behold, my father knows it." Therefore, when you have taken your thought to your spiritual father, it will leave you on the way. ^D

^A Scholion 25. When someone does good not to be seen by men, although he may be praised by those who see his good works, he shall suffer no harm from that praise.

Scholion 26. Guarding the tongue shows that a man is practiced in virtues; but an unbridled tongue signifies that he possesses no virtue within.

Scholion 27. David was praised according to his worth, Saul beyond his worth, yet neither dragged the glory unto themselves; but Absalom, by forcefully dragging glory to himself, drew upon himself more shame than glory.

Another Scholion. When you see a thought leading you toward human glory, know clearly that it is preparing shame for you.

GRADUS XXIII

Superbia is the negation of God, an invention of the devil, a disdain for men, the mother of condemnation, the offspring of praises, a token of barrenness, a fugitive of divine help, a precursor of ecstasy, a cause of falls, the motive for epilepsy ^B (or the sacred disease), a fountain of anger, the door of hypocrisy, a stronghold of demons, the guardian of sins, the cause of inhumanity, an ignorance of compassion, a bitter recorder of wrongs, an inhumane judge, an enemy of God, the root of blasphemy, the beginning of pride, and the end of vainglory. Its intermediate state is the disdain of one’s neighbor, the shameless display of one’s own labors, praise in the heart, and hatred of reproof. Its end is the negation of God’s help, and the puffing up of one’s own diligence—a demonic disposition. Let us all hear, those who wish to avoid this pit, that the passion often loves to gain its nourishment from thanksgiving; for it does not suggest that one deny God with impudence from the very beginning. I have seen those who were giving thanks to God with their mouths, ^C whilst in their hearts they were glorifying themselves; and that Pharisee is a clear witness to this, having said: "God, I thank Thee." Where a fall has taken hold, there pride has already pitched its tent; for the latter is the announcer of the former. Suppose to yourself that there are twelve passions of shame. I have heard one highly honorable man say: "If you embrace one of these (I refer to conceit) by your own will, that one will fill the place of the other eleven." A proud monk vehemently contradicts others. But the humble one does not know how to contradict at all. A cypress tree never bends its branches ^D to the ground to crawl upon the earth, nor does a proud monk submit himself to obedience. A high-minded man yearns to rule; for otherwise, as it happens, he cannot be brought to total destruction; rather, he does not wish it. God opposes the proud. Who, then, can have mercy on these? The impure...

is everyone before God who is of a proud heart. And who can render such a one pure? Instruction ^A is the occasion of ruin for the proud; the goad of the proud, or their stake, is a demon; deprivation [(b)] induces stupor. And the former vices of men have often been healed by men; but the final one is incurable by men. He who turns away from and rejects reproof betrays his own vice; but he who seeks out rebuke is freed from the bond of pride. If one, apart from other vices, fell from heaven through this single and unique one (Lucifer), it must be asked whether perhaps someone might ascend to heaven by humility alone, apart from other virtues? Pride destroys the wealth of all labors and sweats: they cried out, and there was none to save them, ^B undoubtedly because they cried out with pride. They cried unto the Lord, and He did not hear them, for the very reason, of course, that they had not first removed the causes against which they were crying out.

A certain elder, most knowledgeable in spiritual matters, exhorted a proud brother to humility; but the latter, being blind, said: "Forgive me, father, I am not proud." And that most wise elder said to him: "And what greater sign or proof of this passion, my child, can you offer us than by saying: 'I am not proud'?" Submission, and a rougher and more humble way of life and discipline, is very effective for such temperaments; and likewise the reading of the achievements of the holy Fathers, which seem to surpass the law of nature; for perhaps in this way there might be for those thus afflicted a small hope of salvation. It is shameful to be puffed up over another’s finery; but it is the height ^C of folly to pride oneself on the gifts of God. You may only pride yourself on those right actions which you possessed before you were born. For whatever you received when you were born, God gave, just as He gave birth itself. Whatever virtues you have practiced outside the mind, these alone are yours; for God gave the mind. Whatever struggles of virtue you have undergone outside the body, these you may alone ascribe to your own zeal; for the body is not yours, but the work of God. Beware, lest you hear the final judgment pronounced upon you, when you see him who had already reclined in the bridal chamber cast into the outer darkness with hands and feet bound. Do not walk with a stiff neck, ^D you who are earth-born; for many even of the holy and bodiless powers were cast from heaven. When the demon finds a place in his own ministers, then in their sleep, or even while they are awake, he appears in the fashion and form of some blessed angel or martyr, and reveals certain mysteries to them, or bestows a gift of graces, so that the wretches, being deceived, may be utterly deprived of their senses. Even if we endured ten thousand deaths for Christ, not even then would we have fulfilled our obligation; for the blood of God is one thing, and the blood of servants is another, according to dignity, though not according to essence; continually debating and questioning ourselves against

^A the fathers and luminaries who were before us, let us not cease, ^B or we shall find that we have not even at all trodden a trace of the exact way of life, nor have we religiously kept our profession, but are still lingering in the condition of the secular and profane life.

A monk is, properly and truly, he who never raises the eye of his soul, and keeps his bodily senses unmoved. A monk is he who challenges his enemies as if they were wild beasts, and irritates them even while they flee from him. A monk is a perpetual ecstasy of mind and a mourning of life. A monk is he who is affected and tempered by the virtues just as another is corrupted and ruined by pleasures. A monk is an unquenchable light in the eye of the heart. A monk is an infinite depth of humility, into which every wicked spirit is plunged headlong and suffocated. Forgetfulness of sins works pride ^B in the mind; for the remembrance of them is the producer of humility. Pride is the extreme poverty of the soul, which imagines riches in darkness; this cursed pestilence not only does not allow the one climbing to advance, but even casts him down from on high. Pride is a rot inside, while shining and blooming on the outside. A proud monk will not need another demon; for he has henceforth become a demon and an enemy to himself. As darkness is alien to light, so the proud man is alien to every virtue. In the hearts of the proud, blasphemous words will be born; ^C but in the souls of the humble, heavenly visions. As a thief loathes the sun, so the proud man disdains the meek. Many of the proud, I know not how, do not know themselves while they live, while they seem to themselves to be established in the highest tranquility of soul, who discern their own poverty only in the excess of life. Whoever is seized and captured by pride needs divine help, forvain is the salvation of men in such cases. I once apprehended this headless, wandering creature that had nested in my heart, and was being carried on the shoulders of its own mother; and having bound them with the chain of obedience, and scourged them with the lash of humility, I compelled them to declare their entry into me. And so, while being scourged, they said: "We have no beginning, ^D nor birth; for we have been established as captains and progenitors of all the passions. But contrition of heart, born from obedience, conflicts with us not moderately; for we have never been accustomed to obey anyone. Wherefore, even in heaven, we were made captains and plotted defection. To sum it all up, we are the authors and mothers of all the vices that thwart humility. For everything that favors humility is in opposition to us. Indeed, we were powerful in heaven, and where will you flee from our presence? We are accustomed, not infrequently, even after endured insults, obedience exercised, anger restrained, the memory of injuries erased, and after pursuing the offices and ministries of religious life, to propagate this vicious offspring—a fall

^A of religious men, wrath, detraction, bitterness of spirit, fury, clamor, curses, hypocrisy of virtues, hatred, envy, backbiting—each in their own way, and by a will to live as one pleases, not to obey counsels or commands. There is one thing alone in which, when we attempt and execute it, all our strength languishes; and this ^A with the lash of correction we announce to you, compelled to speak. If you sincerely accuse and blame yourself in the sight of God, then truly you will despise and elude us like spiderwebs. For as you see, the horse of pride is vain glory, which I, pride, mounted; but holy humility and self-reproach will laugh at the horse and his rider, ^B a triumphal song to be sung most sweetly. "Let us sing to the Lord, for He is gloriously magnified; the horse and its rider He has cast into the sea," and into the abyss of humility.

He who transcends the twenty-third step is a man, if indeed anyone can possibly transcend it. ^B

SCHOLIA ON THE TWENTY-THIRD STEP.

On Pride.

Scholion 1.

Scholion 2.

Scholion of Saint Nilus 3.

Scholion 4.

Another.

Another.

Scholion 5.

Scholion 6.

Scholion 7.

As high-mindedness is alien to one who is repenting, so it is impossible for him who sins voluntarily to be humble-minded.

Another. He who is deadened by the passions perceives no counsel, and does not endure spiritual instruction at all.

Scholion 9. A demonstration showing that one should pride oneself on nothing, nor be puffed up as though one had achieved something by one’s own wisdom or strength, without the incomparable great gift of God.

Another. The self-controlled man abstains from gluttony; the man who possesses nothing, from greed; the man of stillness, from much chatter; the chaste man, from pleasure; the modest man, from lust; the man content with his lot, from the love of money; the gentle man, from turbulence; the humble man, from vainglory; the submissive man, from contention; the man ready to be reproved, from hypocrisy; the man who prays, from despair; the poor man, from the abundance of money; the confessor, from denial; the martyr, from idolatry. You see that every virtue as far as the point of death is nothing else than abstinence from sin; and abstinence from sin is a work of nature, not an exchange for the kingdom.

Joannes Carpathius 10. The wedding garment, about which the divine oracles of Christ discourse, consider to be the grace of the Holy Spirit; for he who has not become worthy to put this on will not be a partaker of the heavenly wedding and the spiritual supper.

Scholion of Mark 11. Some who do not keep the commandments think that they believe rightly; others who do keep them expect the kingdom of God as a debt owed; both have wandered far from the truth.

Scholion 12. When we turn the mind away from God, either through idle talk or scurrility or anything else of the kind, and become puffed up, we are not monks.

Scholion 13. Forgetfulness of offences sometimes engenders pride, and sometimes numbness.

Evagrius 14. Do not hasten to become rich, lest you suddenly become poor.

Scholion 15. He who is puffed up with pride is permitted to fall into blasphemies, and he who is lifted up by the virtue of his actions is permitted to fall into lust; and he who is lifted up in his own wisdom is permitted to fall into the dark snares of ignorance.

Scholion 16. I consider it a great and precious thing to overcome vainglory and to progress in the knowledge of God; for he who has fallen into the disgrace of this wicked vice of vainglory is alienated from peace, and has become hardened

in his heart toward the saints; and at the end of his evils, he falls into wicked pride and the habit of lying.

Scholion 17.

Scholion 18.

Scholion 19.

Concerning inexplicable thoughts of blasphemy.

^A We have heard in the preceding sections that this most pernicious offspring comes from a pernicious root and parent—I mean, the unspeakable offspring of blasphemy from wicked pride. Therefore, it is necessary to bring it into the open; for it is not just any adversary, but stands as the most dangerous enemy and foe of all, and what is more serious, it is difficult to explain and is hardly ever presented and revealed to a spiritual physician through confession. Whence it has often happened to not a few that they have fallen into the depths of despair, with every hope of salvation taken away. For even as the wood-worm consumes ^B wood, so this impious thing consumes all their hope.

This, then, this most abominable thing is accustomed often, during the very holy synaxes, and at the very hour when the awesome mysteries of the Eucharist are being performed, to assail the Lord with impious thoughts, and thus to pollute the sacrifice itself. Hence we clearly understand that those unspeakable, incomprehensible, and impious maledictions of thoughts against God do not proceed from our soul, but from the enemy of God, the demon who fled from the heavens; for there, too, he was seen to have assailed the Lord with blasphemies. For if those foul and unbecoming words were mine, how, when I receive that heavenly gift, do I worship as a suppliant? How can I simultaneously curse and bless the same One? This deceiver ^C and destroyer of souls has often cast many into a state of mental derangement; for no other thought is as difficult to confess as this one. Thus it has often grown old within many, remaining hidden. For nothing so increases the power of the demons and of impious thoughts against us as nourishing them in the heart in silence and hiding them. Let no one consider himself guilty or a sinner on account of such thoughts of blasphemy; for God, the knower of hearts, knows that such utterances are not ours, but belong to our enemies.

Drunkenness is a cause of stumbling; and pride is a cause of unseemly thoughts. And although you do not sin by the stumbling itself, you will nonetheless be punished on account of the drunkenness. While we were standing in prayer, the impure and unspeakable...

thoughts beset us; but no sooner are the prayers finished than they vanish. For they are not troublesome to those who do not struggle against them. That impious one blasphemes not only the Divine and all things divine, but he also stirs up in us the most shameful and unbecoming thoughts, so that we might either abandon prayer or despair of our salvation. He has truly hindered or interrupted the prayers of many, and has frightened many away from the holy mysteries of the sacraments, and has even emaciated and corrupted the bodies of some through sadness. This wicked and inhuman tyrant has even destroyed others by starvation, and has granted them no respite whatever; and not only in the case of men of the world, but he has brought this to pass for those living the monastic life, suggesting to them that they have no hope of salvation left, and declaring them to be more wretched ^B than all the unbelievers and the heathen.

He who is harassed by the spirit of blasphemy, and wishes to be delivered from it, should know for certain that such thoughts do not arise from his own soul, but from that same impure demon who once said to the Lord: "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." Therefore, let us also despise him, and not considering his suggestions at all, let us say: "Get behind me, Satan; I will worship the Lord my God, and Him only shall I serve." Your pain and your word will return upon your own head, and your blasphemy will descend upon your own pate, both now and in the world to come. He who desires to wrestle with the spirit of blasphemy in a manner other than that which we have shown is like one who tries to grasp lightning in his hands; for how can one grasp, or answer back, or wrestle with him who, in the blink of an eye, flashes through the heart like the wind and, swifter than an instant, vanishes after casting a word? ^C For all other enemies stand their ground, wrestle back, persist, and provide an opportunity for one who wishes to struggle against them; but this one does not, for as soon as he has appeared, he departs, and as soon as he has spoken, he passes on.

The spirit of blasphemy is accustomed to occupy the minds of the simpler and more innocent, who are usually more troubled and disturbed by such thoughts than others. In the case of these, we truly testify that such blasphemies are not wont to arise from pride or haughtiness of soul, but are all stirred up by the mere envy of the demons. Let us cease to judge and condemn our neighbor, and we shall not fear the thoughts of blasphemy; for the cause and root of the latter is the former's rash judgment. As one who is shut up in a house hears the words of those passing by outside, although he does not express them himself, so the soul that dwells within itself, listening to the blasphemies of the demon, is terrified; yet these are not its own, but the demon passing ^D through it scatters them—and he who despises them is set free from the passion. But he who tries to wrestle with him in any other way is, in the end, subject to him; for by the words of spirits...

he is like one who tries to shut up the winds. ^A

A certain monk, very religious, who had been vexed by this spirit for twenty years, wasted his own body with fasting and vigils. But when he felt that he had labored in vain, having written the form of the temptation on a paper, he went to a certain holy man and presented the paper, casting himself prone upon his face, not daring out of modesty to look upon him. The father, as he read the paper, smiled, and having raised up the brother, said to him: "Place, my son, your hand upon my neck." And when the brother had done this, the great man said: "Upon my neck, brother, let this sin be, for as many years as it has vexed you before, or shall afflict you hereafter; do you only henceforth neglect it and have no care of it whatever." He affirmed afterward, however, that before he had departed from the cell of that elder, he was thoroughly set free from that temptation, and all impious thoughts had vanished into smoke. He himself who experienced the whole affair related this to me, giving thanks to Christ. ^B

He who has gained the victory over this vice has overcome and excluded pride.

SCHOLION TO STEP XXIII. Of blasphemy.

STEP XXIV. Of gentleness, or mansuetude; of simplicity, innocence, and malice, not as innate, but as acquired by virtue or vice.

The morning light of the dawn precedes the sun, and mansuetude precedes all humility. Therefore, let us first listen to the light (Christ), who arranges them in this order: "Learn," He says, "from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart" (Matt. xi, 29). It is fitting, therefore, that before we treat of the sun, we should be illuminated by this light, and only then fix our eyes more clearly upon the sun. For it is impossible—it is impossible, I say, that he should look upon the sun who has not known this light first, as the true method of teaching and order of discourse advises us. Mansuetudo is an immutable state of mind, which, in every ^D fortune of honors and insults, preserves an equable habit of soul. Mansuetudo is to pray sincerely and from the heart for others who disturb you, without being perturbed yourself. Mansuetudo is a rock projecting into the sea of anger, which breaks and dissolves all the waves that dash against it, nor is it itself moved or broken in the meantime. Mansuetudo is the stay of patience, the door of love—or rather, its mother—and the foundation of discernment. For, He says, the Lord "will teach the gentle his ways."

It is the procurator of the forgiveness of sins, the confidence in prayers, and the dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit: "For upon whom shall I look, if not upon the gentle and the quiet?" Gentleness is the helper of obedience, the guide of brotherhood, the bridle of the raging, the check of the angry, and the purveyor of joy; it is an imitation of Christ, a property of the angels, a bond for demons, and a shield against bitterness and the acerbity of the soul. In the hearts of the gentle the Lord will rest; but a turbulent soul is the seat of the devil. The "gentle shall inherit the earth," or rather, they shall rule over the earth, but the raging shall be rooted out from their land. A gentle soul is the throne of simplicity; but an irascible mind is the architect of wickedness. A mild soul will grasp the words of wisdom, "for the Lord will guide the gentle in judgment," or rather, in discernment. A straight soul is the companion of humility, but the wicked soul is the handmaid of pride. The souls of the gentle shall be filled with knowledge, but the irascible mind is the room-mate of darkness and ignorance. ^B An irascible man and a dissembler have happened upon one another, and there was no finding a straight word in their speech. If you unfold the heart of the former, you will find frenzy; and, upon searching the soul of the latter, you will behold wickedness. Simplicity is a habit of the soul that does not vary, becoming immovable toward evil intention. Wickedness is a science, or rather, a diabolical indecency, stripped of truth and seeming to go unnoticed by many. Hypocrisy is a state of body and soul that is contrary to nature, entangled in all sorts of pretexts; but guilelessness is a cheerful state of the soul that is removed from all pretense. Uprightness is a mind that is not meddlesome, a character unadulterated, speech that is guileless and unpremeditated. An innocent person is of a pure nature of soul, as it was naturally created to make its approach toward all. Wickedness is the inversion of uprightness, a wandering mind, a falsified stewardship; it is constrained oaths, entangled speech, the depth of the heart, an abyss of deceit, a solidified lie, a natural arrogance, an opponent of humility, a hypocrisy of repentance, a diminishment of mourning, an enmity to confession, a self-opinionated way, a purveyor of falls, an adversary of the resurrection, a mocking of insults, a foolishly darkened face, a feigned piety, a diabolical life. Wickedness is the namesake and table-companion of the devil. ^C For this reason, the Lord has taught us thus to name him, saying: "Deliver us from the wicked one." Let us flee from the precipice of hypocrisy and from the pit of guile, heeding Him who says that those who do wickedly ^D shall be rooted out, and like the green herb they shall quickly wither away. For they...

for those who do evil shall be utterly destroyed, and just as the green herbs, they shall quickly fall. For such are the food of demons. Just as God is called Love, so too is He called Uprightness. Wherefore the Wise Man says in the Canticles to the pure soul: ^A Uprightness hath loved thee. And again, his father (David) says: Good and upright is the Lord. And he declares that those who share His name are saved; for he says: "Who saves the upright in heart." And again: "He beheld righteousness (uprightness), and His face hath looked upon his countenance." The first characteristic of those growing like children is a manifold simplicity, which, as long as that Adam kept it, he saw not the nakedness of his soul, nor the shame of his body. Natural simplicity, too, which is found in some, is good and blessed, but it is not as good as that which is acquired from malice through much toil. For the former is preserved from all pretense and fraud and vices of the soul; but the latter is the conciliator of the highest humility and meekness. To the former a small reward is destined; to the latter, one that is inexplicable. Whoever desires to bind the Lord to himself, let him approach Him as disciples to a master, to receive instruction simply and candidly, with an unfeigned mind, without pretense or fraud, without malice or curiosity. For since He is by nature simple and segregated from all composition, He wishes that certain simple, pure, and sincere souls should approach Him. ^B Can you see simplicity separated from humility? The malignant man is a lying conjecturer, who thinks he can discover the secrets of the heart from words, and from habits and gestures of the body. I have seen innocent men who had learned evil from the wicked, and I have imagined how they were able so quickly to lose the property and virtue of their nature. As easily as the upright are perverted, just as difficultly are the contrary able to be transformed. True flight from the world and subjection and the restraint of the tongue often and in many ways have been able to cure and heal paradoxically incurable evils. If knowledge puffs up the majority, perhaps ignorance and lack of learning are by nature prone to humble them. An example and proof, a clear and open definition, and even the form of blessed simplicity for us has been the thrice-blessed Paul, the Simple. For no one, absolutely nowhere, has any man either seen, or heard, or could ever see such progress in so short a time. A simple monk is like a rational and obedient beast of burden ^C that casts its entire load completely onto its guide. The animal does not contradict the one who binds it, nor does an upright soul contradict its leader; it follows wherever he leads, and it knows not how to struggle or speak against him even unto the sacrifice of death. It is difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven, and likewise for those who are foolishly wise to enter into simplicity. Oftentimes a fall has brought the crafty to their senses, bestowing upon them involuntary salvation and innocence. Cast off your cleverness, and by doing so you will find salvation, and uprightness in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

SCHOLIA ON GRADUS XXIV. On Meekness.

^A Scholion 1. Meekness keeps the mind imperturbed; humility frees the mind from the tumor of pride and vainglory.

Scholion 2. Meekness is to endure.

Scholion 3. A dissembler is called a flatterer, an impostor, a liar, because he directs his words to favor and not to truth.

Scholion of Evagrius 4. The nature of the irascible faculty ^B is to fight against demons and to contend on behalf of any pleasure. Thus, the angels suggest spiritual pleasure to us and exhort us to nourish our ire against the demons, for the sake of the blessedness born from that; but devils, on the contrary, drag us toward secular and profane desires and stir up our anger so that, contrary to nature, we fight against men, so that the mind, suffused with darkness and having lost the knowledge of the virtues, becomes a traitor to them.

Another [Scholion] of Gregory the Theologian. Curb your anger, lest you fall out of your senses; chastise and restrain your boiling spirit, for it is the parent of madness when it exceeds all measure.

Scholion 5. For malice does not allow a person to rise up from a fall through repentance.

Scholion 6. A deceitful man is a hidden net.

Scholion 7. Natural simplicity, he says, is immune from many vices.

Scholion 8. Simplicity and not esteeming oneself cleanses the heart from evil.

Scholion 9. One must flee, I urge, from bad companions as much as possible, so that we may not be captured by their vices.

Scholion 10. He speaks of the manner in which the wicked and deceitful might sometimes be changed and corrected. ^D

Scholion 11. Some call those "prudent" who handle external sensory affairs comfortably and cleverly. But truly prudent are those who keep their own will in check.

Another Scholion. Truly foolish are those who seem wise to themselves, and they are worthy heirs of the prophetic "woe."

STEP XXV

^A Concerning the destroyer of all vices, the lowliest humility, which is implanted in the incorporeal sense; whoever has ascended this step, let him take courage, for having imitated Christ his teacher, he has been saved.

He who desires to explain by spoken words that fall under the senses the meaning and effect of divine charity strictly, and of humility worthily, and of blessed chastity truly, and of the light ^B of God clearly and openly, and of His fear not feignedly, and of the sure confidence of heart sincerely—and who imagines that by such an explanation of his discourse he can enlighten and instruct the souls of those who have never tasted this meaning and effect—does the same thing as someone who wishes to explain the sweetness of honey to those who have never tasted it by means of words and comparisons. But while the latter labors in vain by discoursing—not to say trifles and wastes his effort—the former either does not know what he is teaching, or is subtly deluded by a desire for vain glory.

This discourse has held out a treasure to be tested, hidden and kept in earthen vessels, or rather in human bodies, the power and quality of which you cannot attain to by any words; for it has merely had a heavenly inscription ^C attached to it, which cannot be grasped by any human sense, and which provides an infinite investigation and labor to those who try to explain it in words. The words of this inscription are these: "Holy humility." Whoever are led by the Spirit of God, let them come with us into this intellectual and most wise council, carrying with them, in their intellectual hands, the tablets of knowledge written by God; and we have come together and discussed, and we have examined the power of this venerable inscription.

And one was saying that it is the perpetual and continuous forgetting of all one’s right actions. Another, however, (was saying) that it is to consider oneself the last of all and more ^D prone to sin than others. Another, to have knowledge of the weakness and frailty of one's own mind. Another, to anticipate the other in reconciliation after a quarrel, so that one might be the first to dismiss and dissolve the anger. Another, again, (to have) the recognition of divine grace and compassion or mercy. Another also, the awareness of a contrite soul and the abdication of one's own will.

When I had heard all things, and had considered and weighed them with myself soberly and reflectively, I could not attain to that blessed sense of humility through hearing. Therefore, even as the last of all, like a cur, I gathered from the crumbs of the table of those wise and blessed Fathers falling from their mouths, and concerning humility I spoke as follows:

^A Humility is a grace of the soul that has no name, named only by those who have had experience of it; an ineffable treasure, a gift of God, having received a unique name. "Learn," He says, not from an angel, not from man, not from a book, but from Me—that is, from My indwelling, illumination, and operation within you—"for I am meek and humble in heart," and in thought, and in disposition, "and you will find rest" from wars "and relief" for the reasonings "to your souls." ^B The aspect of this holy vine is one thing in the winter of passions, another in the spring when the fruits are beginning, and still another in the summer of virtues, although all these contemplations and views in her converge into one joy and abundance of all fruits, whence she also possesses the proper symbols, as it were, and proofs of her fruits. For when the grape of this holy vine begins to blossom within us, we immediately hate with pain all human glory and praise, banishing wrath and anger from ourselves. But when this queen of virtues progresses to spiritual maturity in the soul, we count all the good things done by us as nothing, or rather, as an abomination, assuming that we are adding to our burden every day with an unknown dissipation; and we suspect the abundance of the divine gifts dwelling in us as an addition of greater punishment, as if we were not worthy of them. Therefore, the mind remains unviolated, having secured itself within the purse of moderation, hearing only the knocks and trifles of the thieves, yet able to be harmed by none of these, since moderation is an impregnable treasury. ^C About the blossoming and the slight progress of the evergreen fruit, we have ventured to philosophize through trifles; but as for what the final reward of this holy thing is, ask the Lord, you who are the domestics of the Lord. Concerning the quantity of this essence, it is not possible to speak; and concerning its quality, it is even more impossible to express. Nevertheless, we will attempt to speak concerning its characteristic property according to the concept that has come to us. ^D Repentance, provided it is earnest, and mourning that has been purified of every stain, and that all-holy humility which introduces them, differ from one another in distinction and difference as much as yeast and flour differ from bread. For the soul is crushed and thinned by active repentance; but it is united and, if I may so speak, kneaded together with God through the water of sincere mourning; from which, having caught the fire of the Lord, blessed humility—unleavened and without swell—is formed into bread and solidified, with all leaven and tumor of pride now excluded. Whence this all-holy, three-stranded chain—or rather, rainbow—revolving into itself as one power and energy, has its own...

^A particular operations and properties; and whatever sign you might say belongs to one of them, you would find the same to be a mark of the other. Wherefore I shall attempt to confirm briefly by demonstration what has been said. For the first and pre-eminent property and nature of this beautiful and admirable triad is a most ready endurance of ignominy, which the soul receives and embraces with open hands, as one that heals the diseases of the soul and blots out and consumes great sins. The second is the extinction of all anger ^B from that source, and the moderation and measure kept in quenching it. The third and most excellent degree of this step is to believe in good faith that one is not good, with a perpetual desire of learning. The end of the law and the prophets is Christ, for righteousness to everyone who believes. But the end of vicious and impure perturbations is vain glory and pride for everyone who does not attend to them; 6 this spiritual deer, being their destroyer, keeps her companion untouched and uninjured by every deadly poison. For where does the venom of hypocrisy appear in her? Where does that of detraction? Where does the serpent hide in its hole? Nay, rather, it is dragged out from the very hiding-place of the earth and the heart, is killed and consumed. In this companionship there appears no sign of hatred, no species of backbiting, no odor of contumacy or tergiversation, unless perhaps when ^C faith comes into danger. He who is joined to this as a bridegroom to a bride is gentle, approachable, easily pricked to compunction, compassionate, above all things serene and tranquil, joyful and alert, obedient, free from all troubles, vigilant and energetic, and, to embrace all things in one word, imperturbable. For the Lord was mindful of us in our low estate, and delivered us from our enemies, 18 and from our soul’s diseases and pollutions. A humble monk will not curiously inquire into the mysteries of God; but the proud man also scrutinizes His judgments. Some of the most "gnostic" brothers were seen by demons, who stood by and called them blessed; ^D but the all-wise man says to them: "If you have ceased praising me in my soul, I will think and consider myself great because of your departure; but if you do not cease praising, from your praise I will easily conjecture my own filth and impurity. For everyone who is high-hearted is unclean before the Lord. Either, therefore, depart and behold, I have become great, or praise, and through you I acquire—humility." Struck and astonished by this dilemma, the demons vanished from his sight. Do not let your soul be a cistern of living water, which at one time overflows with a fountain of life, and at another again dries up, exhausted by the heat of glory and pride, but rather a fountain of apatheia, ever pouring forth from itself a river of poverty. Do not be ignorant, my friend, that grain and spiritual fruit are produced abundantly in the valleys. A valley is a humble soul, which, situated between the mountains of labors and virtues, always remains low and immovable. I have not fasted, I have not kept vigil, I have not slept on the bare ground, but I was humbled, and the Lord saved me 24 quickly.

Penitence arouses, but sorrow knocks at the gates of heaven, and holy humility opens them. I, for my part, say and adore the Trinity in Unity, and the Unity in Trinity. The sun illuminates all things that are visible, and humility confirms all things that are done by reason. If the light is absent, all things are shrouded in darkness; if humility is absent, all our works are withered and foul-smelling. There is but one place in the whole world ^B that has seen the sun but once, and a single thought has often given birth to humility. On one day and at one time, the whole world rejoiced with gladness. And this is the one virtue of humility, which none of the demons can imitate. It is one thing to be exalted, another not to be exalted, and yet another to be humbled. For the first judges all things; the second judges no one, but condemns himself; the third, while uncondemned and innocent, always condemns himself as if he were guilty. It is one thing to be humble, another to strive to be humble, and yet another to praise one who is humble. The first belongs to the perfect; the second to those who truly submit themselves to the yoke of obedience; the third to all Christians. He who is humble from the heart is not betrayed by his tongue or lips; for that which the treasury does not possess, the door does not bring forth into public view. A horse running alone often seems to itself to run swiftly, but when it is joined to the herd, then at last it recognizes its own slowness and sluggishness. ^C When the mind no longer flatters or pleases itself with the gifts and ornaments of nature, it has a sign of health and humility. But when it smells and senses that goat of pride, it cannot perceive the grace of the precious ointment of humility. "He who loves me," says holy humility, "will not chide anyone, will not judge anyone, will not command, will not argue, until he is thoroughly coupled and joined to me; but after my coupling, no law is henceforth placed upon him."

There was among those who strove for this blessed virtue a remarkable athlete to whom the wicked spirits attempted to insinuate praise in his heart. But he, in turn, having set out to stave off the malice of the demons through a holy and divinely inspired device, rose and wrote upon the wall of his cell the titles of the highest and most excellent virtues—I mean, of perfect ^D charity, of angelic humility, of pure prayer, of intact and inviolate chastity, and of others of this kind. Whenever, therefore, thoughts of pride attempted to exalt him, he would say to them: "Come, let us go to the judge." And approaching, he would examine the titles of the virtues, and exclaiming, he would say: "As long as you possess these virtues—or rather, so long as you do not possess these virtues—know that you are still far from God." The power and substance of the sun no one among mortals can explain, but we are accustomed to teach concerning the nature that is in it from its operations and properties. Humility is a divine protection, and a veil by which the works of our virtues are covered, lest they should be seen. Humility is the highest and most subtle knowledge of one’s own vileness, inaccessible to all thieves. Humility is a tower of strength from the face of the enemy. An enemy will not profit against it, and a son—or rather, a thought—will not add iniquity to harm him, and it will cut down from his face his enemies and put to flight those who hate him.

^A There are also, for the owner of this great internal treasure, other qualities in the soul not unknown, beyond all those already explained. For all those qualities, with one exception, are to those who observe them indications of this treasure of humility. You will recognize, and you will not be deceived, that this holy essence is present within you, in an abundance of unspeakable light, and with an unutterable desire of prayer, as a precursor of all these—namely, a heart that does not revile in the face of the faults of others. A precursor of the aforementioned vainglory is hatred for all things. He who has known himself in every perception of the soul has sown upon the earth; for it is not possible that those who have not sown in this way should cause humility to blossom. He who has known himself has grasped the concept of the fear of the Lord, and through this he has walked and arrived at the gate of love. Humility is the gate of the Kingdom, leading in those who draw near. Through this, I believe, the Lord spoke of the one who enters, that he shall both enter ^B and go out from this life without any fear, and shall find pasture and green grass in paradise. All those who have come by another way in this pattern are thieves and robbers of their own life. If we who wish to know ourselves do not cease to inquire into ourselves, and if from the innermost sense of our soul we believe all others to be better than us, then at last we shall believe that we are not far from divine mercy. It is impossible for a flame to proceed from snow; it is more impossible for humility to exist in a heretic. This is the virtue of the faithful and the pious, and indeed of those who are whole and purged of all vices. Many of us say that we are sinners, and perhaps we judge ourselves to be so, but ignominy is the test of the heart. Whoever strives to arrive at this harbor of tranquility will never cease to seek ways, reasons, rationalizations, thoughts, or reflections, questions, inquiries, or investigations, practices, clever devices, and skill; he will also employ prayers and supplications, and will do and devise everything, until by heavenly aid, through more abject and lowly studies and exercises, he brings the ship of his own soul, snatched from the always hostile and stormy sea of pride, into a tranquil harbor. ^C For he who has been freed from this (pride) will easily offer satisfaction for all other sins, like that publican. For there are some who draw their past sins, even after having received forgiveness for them, as a cause and argument for humility, being mindful of them until death, by which means they mortify pride. Others, by meditating on the passion of Christ, always acknowledge themselves to be eternal debtors. Others humble themselves through daily shortcomings. Others have made the mother of all gifts their own through accidental temptations, diseases, and falls. And there are some—if indeed there be any such now, I cannot say—who humble themselves ^D by the very gifts of God, through their approach to these, judging themselves unworthy of such wealth, and as they add to their own debt day by day, they are thus disposed. Others, because of daily offenses, cast themselves down and judge themselves most vile. Others, from the temptations that befall them, and from diseases of the soul and from falls, [are disposed] toward grace.

STEP XXV.

This is humility, this is beatitude, this is the perfect prize. If you see or hear of anyone who within a few years has attained to the highest dispassion of soul, do not think they arrived at this perfection by any other road than this blessed and short, humble path. This holy pair is love and humility; for the former exalts, while the latter holds fast those who have been exalted, so that they never fall. ^A Contrition is one thing, knowledge is another, and humility is yet another. Contrition is the offspring of a fall. For he who falls is broken, and he stands in prayer without boldness, yet with laudable shamelessness, leaning like one broken upon the staff of hope, whereby he drives away and pursues the dog of despair. Knowledge is a firm understanding of one’s own measures, and an unforgetful memory and grasp of even slight transgressions. Humility is the teaching of Christ, spiritually ^B ingrained in those who are worthy, kept as if in an inner chamber of the soul, and inexpressible in audible words. Whoever says that he senses in himself the fragrance of such an ointment, and at the same time is moved in his soul by praise—even if only for a moment—or understands the power of the words [spoken of him], let him not be deceived; he has already been deceived. I have heard one saying in the feeling of his spirit: "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to Thy name give glory." [Ps. CXV, 1] For he knew nature, how it cannot of itself remain unharmed. "My praise shall be of Thee in the great church," [Ps. XXI, 23] at the time to come. For before that time arrives, I cannot bear this [eulogy] without danger. If this is the definition, the reason, and the method of extreme pride—to simulate virtues one does not possess for the sake of glory—then, ^C on the contrary, it is surely the proof of deepest humility to simulate in certain matters faults one does not have, so as to be held of lower account. Thus did he who took bread and cheese in his hands; thus did he who cast off his garment and, though free from every sense of lust, walked through the city as a true ascetic of chastity. Such men are not concerned if they offend any human being, for they have received such grace and virtue through prayer that they satisfy everyone in the spirit. He who cares for the former shows that he is in need of the latter. For when we have God ready for our petition, we can do ^D everything through Him. Be willing to offend men rather than God, for He rejoices when He sees us hastening toward ignominy, that we may crush, strike down, and exterminate our foolish self-esteem and arrogance. Total flight from the world, or pilgrimage, creates such struggles. For it is truly the part of great men to endure mockery from their own householders and acquaintances. And do not be astonished at what has been said: for no one has ever climbed a ladder at a single bound. In this all will know that we are disciples of God, not that the demons obey us, but that our names are written…

^A in the heaven of humility. It is the nature of the sterility of the so-called citron trees to grow tall, but when they are bent down, they more quickly become fruitful. He who realizes this with understanding knows it.

The degree of this holy virtue before God possesses a ^B thirtyfold, a sixtyfold, and a hundredfold ascent. Those who have overcome all the perturbations of the soul and have arrived at the summit of the soul’s tranquility reach the highest level; those who are courageous stand in the center. But all can ascend to the first [the lowest]. He who knows himself will never be deceived into undertaking things that are beyond his power, but has already firmly set his foot upon this blessed path. Birds tremble at the sight of a hawk, and those who are studious of humility tremble at the voice of a detractor. Without prophecies, divine illuminations, visions, signs, and miracles, many have obtained salvation; but without humility, no one shall ever enter into the bridal chamber of the bridegroom. For the latter is the faithful guardian of those former signs. Yet those [the signs] have in some who were not sufficiently firm ^C cast out [the guardian]. It has also been ordained by God to humble us, even against our will, so that no one can examine the stains of his own wounds as well as they are seen by another. Therefore, it is necessary that we do not attribute the grace of recovered health to ourselves, but attribute it to another and to God. The humble of heart always, as if it were a deceiver, detests his own will, and in his prayers to God, resting on sure faith, he is accustomed to learn and obey what is fitting for him, not attending to the manners and life of his teachers, but having committed every care to God, who even by means of the ass taught the prophet Balaam what was necessary. Similarly, let such a worker of God, even if he performs, thinks, and speaks everything according to God, nevertheless ascribe nothing to himself. It is a cross and a heavy burden to the humble man when he is forced to trust himself, just as it is for the proud man when he is ordered to abide by the judgment of another. It seems to me an angel, never even stealthily to be dragged into sin, when I hear it said by an earthly angel: "I know nothing against myself, yet I am not hereby justified; but he who judges me is the Lord." ^D Therefore it is necessary that we perpetually condemn and reproach ourselves, so that by voluntary self-abasement and lowliness we may be defended from involuntary falls and excused. Unless we do this, at the departure of life a strictly grave account will be required of us regarding them. He who asks of God something that is below his merits will without doubt receive things that are above his merits. And this the publican confirms, who, having asked only for the remission of his sins, brought back righteousness. That thief had only asked Christ to be mindful of him in His kingdom, and he became an heir of the entire paradise, and was the first who—

^A became so. It is not possible to see in the world a fire that is by nature both small and great; nor is it possible for any species or vestige of vices to dwell within a true and sincere humility. As long as we sin and fall voluntarily, this humility is not in us, and this state is the sign of that presence. Since our Lord was not ignorant that the soul is formed by the exterior habit of the body, He took up a linen towel and showed us the compendious way to humility. For the soul is fashioned by the actions of the body, and it is composed [effigiated] and structured according to what it does. Was not the principality of the angels an occasion and cause of pride for some of them, even though they had not received it in order to become proud? Otherwise is the one who sits upon a throne, and otherwise the one who sits upon a dunghill, compared. And perhaps for this reason that great righteous man (Job) sat upon a dunghill outside the city. For when he had attained ^B perfect humility, he said with the feeling of his soul: "I have despised myself and have wasted away"; I have considered myself earth and ashes. I find that Manasses, who among men had sinned, perhaps, as no other, and had polluted the temple of God with idols and all divine worship—for whom, even if the whole world had afflicted itself with fasts, it could not have offered anything worthy—yet humility had the strength to heal even those incurable wounds. For "If You had desired sacrifice," says David to God, "I would have given it; You will not take pleasure in burnt offerings," nor in bodies (tormented) by fasts. A sacrifice to God ^C is (a contrite spirit), and the rest is known to all. "I have sinned against the Lord," once cried out the blessed humility to God regarding adultery and murder; and He heard it immediately: "The Lord has taken away your sin."

The immortal Fathers have defined the way and the thesis of this (humility) as bodily toils; for my part, I say it is obedience and uprightness of heart, which naturally are opposed to pride. If pride has made some demons out of angels, undoubtedly this (humility) can make angels out of demons. Therefore, let those who have sinned take heart. Let us hasten with all our strength to ascend to its summit. If we cannot, let us at least strive to be lifted up by its shoulders. But if we fail and succumb, let us beware ^D lest we fall from its arms. For I would be surprised if anyone who has fallen from there could attain any eternal reward. The nerves and ways of this—though not merely its signs—are: poverty kept secret, pilgrimage, the concealment of wisdom, unconventional speech, the seeking of alms, the hiding of nobility, the banishment of boldness, the distancing from much-talking. For nothing has ever been able to humble a soul so much as a state of extreme poverty and a life of begging. For then, truly then, we are shown to be lovers of wisdom and lovers of God, when, being able to be exalted, we flee from height without looking back. If you are ever armed against any passion of whatever kind, summon this as your ally; "For you will tread upon the asp and the basilisk."

^A that is to say, against sin and despair, and the devil, and the dragon of the body. Humility is a heavenly siphon, able to lift the soul from the abyss of sins into heaven. Someone once saw the beauty of this in his own soul; and, struck with amazement, he sought beforehand to learn the name of its parent. She, smiling in a gracious and serene manner, said: "How is it that you seek to learn the name of my begetter, when he is nameless and devoid of a name? I will not reveal it to you until you possess God." To Him be glory unto all the ages of ages. Amen.

The abyss is the mother of the sea, and humility is the fountain of discernment.

SCHOLIA ON GRADUS XXV. On humility.

^A Scholion 1. Meaning of the sensible and material.

Scholion of Saint Chrysostom 2. Lest, he says, relying on the gift of the laver, they live neglectfully thereafter. For although you may have received the baptism of repentance, if you are not afterwards led by the Holy Spirit, you have lost the dignity given to you, and the prerogative of adoption. Hence he said: Not as many as have received the Spirit of God, but as many as are led by the Spirit of God; that is, as many as live thus throughout their whole life, these are the sons of God.

Question 3. What does "accusation" signify? ^B Answer: Two things; the worst calumny brought against someone by an enemy, and then, with a singular force, the clear declaration of a thing that has been done. For example: God is good by nature, the devil is a malefactor, the fox is wily.

Scholion 4. The actions of the mind are ^C wonderful, and its progress through humility. Hear what he says. For, he says, whatever someone thinks [that about which one reasons with oneself], this he altogether feels and retains in his heart. Let that, therefore, be excluded, which someone thinks out of inadvertence of mind, or by subreption, or by chance; for these, since they are treated in the mind but once, we deny to be thought or treated with a vicious affection.

Another. A senior was asked what humility is; he said: A double ^D mortification, which is done voluntarily in everything.

Scholion 5. Iris is the bow extended in the clouds, which he called humility, on account of its many and various, as it were, flowers and colors, and on account of the triple aspect of the colors, and the height, by which it exists and is elevated above the earth.

^A Scholion of Isaac 6. Pride is not when the thought of it passes through the mind, nor if one is overcome by it on some sudden occasion; but it is that which remains and sticks in a man. The former (who thinks about pride, or is suddenly overwhelmed by it) is followed by sorrow of soul or compunction; the latter, who loves pride, does not know compunction.

Scholion 7. Of high and noble deeds of virtue (ineffable, that is, or secret).

Scholion 8. Useless, confused, and vain.

Scholion 9. Just as the holy Trinity of persons is in one Godhead, and one Godhead in three persons, so too are repentance, mourning, and humility akin to one another, and are contained in divine grace; and grace makes them one, joining one to the other, and lifting up the mind to God.

Scholion 10. That one place is the bottom of the Red Sea during the crossing of the people of Israel. But the day on which the whole world rejoiced with joy is none other than the day of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, by which the human race was delivered from the eternal bonds of Hades. Others understand the day of Christ's nativity, on which it was heard from the angels: "Glory to God in the highest." Others interpret it as the day on which Noah with his own went out from the ark.

Scholion of Chrysostom 11. If you see religion harmed anywhere, then, disregarding the conspiracy of others, defend the truth, and for its sake struggle generously even unto death; and in this way do not fight with your own soul, nor suffer yourself to be moved from your judgment, but fight only with the facts themselves. For this is that which is said: "If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men," even if he is not peaceable. And do not fill your soul with a tempest (do not disturb your soul with a heavy tempest of rain, with a spirit of storms), provided that you have in no way violated or betrayed the truth.

^D Scholion 12. He affirms that those who themselves stupidly punish or judge others, or who artfully quibble, or seek after principate, are devoid of humility. But there are those who teach humility to their disciples by their actual deeds and works.

Scholion 13. Abbas Isaiah said concerning humility, that the tongue lacks the power to rebuke anyone as negligent, or another who appears to despise others; nor do the eyes

^A have [the power] to watch the failings of another, nor have the ears to hear things that do not profit his soul; and he has no business with anyone, except for his own sins; but he is peaceable toward all men because of the commandment of God, and not because of friendship. For if someone fasts six days and another six, and gives himself over to great labors and commandments, outside of this way, all his labors are useless and vain.

Another. If you have not yet acquired them [these virtues], you are far from God’s commandments; but if you have already acquired them, you are a useless servant: what you were bound to do, you have done, while others do many things beyond the commandments.

Scholion 14. All the properties explained above (by Climacus), except for one, which is opinion, show the riches and treasure of humility; for this is (as I think) that one [thing] (opinion, I mean). ^B

Scholion 15. True humility is the offspring of cognition; and true cognition is the offspring of temptations.

Scholion 16. He who through the Christ-imitating way of life and humility has entered into the life of the monks, he will enter well into it, and will depart from the present life; and with joy he will find pasture in paradise.

Scholion 17. He calls "oil" the humility that is poured into the soul through grace; and it is conferred, when we esteem ourselves to be more vile than all mortal men. ^C

Scholion 18. Humility is not the despair of the conscience, but the cognition of divine charity and compassion.

Scholion of Isaac 19. He who is able to endure a hard word from an importunate and inconsiderate person for the sake of God, and for the sake of keeping his thoughts in peace, he shall be called a son of peace; and such a one is able to possess peace of soul, and of body, and of spirit.

Another. If you reject labor and contumely or ignominy from yourself, there is no reason to promise yourself that you will perform penance through remaining virtues. For vainglory and torpor of heart are wont to serve sin for the sake of glory. ^D

Another. When you see someone lamenting because he is in great ignominy, know that he is occupied by thoughts of vainglory, and that in an unpleasant way he is reaping the sheaves of his heart with pain.

Another. The more depraved you are, the less should you refuse many evils

^A so that, having been humbled by it, you may vomit forth your pride.

*Scholion of Isaac 20.* True humility is when a man has something in secret worthy of pride, and yet does not become proud, but considers himself in his mind to be dust.

*Scholion of Mark the Monk 21.* Apart from contrition of heart, it is impossible to be entirely freed from vice, but the heart is broken by a threefold abstinence: I mean from sleep, from food, and from bodily comfort. For an abundance of these creates softness, and softness receives evil thoughts; it also opposes prayer and the appropriate service.

^B *Scholion 22.* He does not command us to cast away our senses, but he strictly forbids us to pay attention to praises as if they were true, and to take pleasure in them, and to consider ourselves worthy of such words.

*Scholion 23.* He alludes to Saint Serapion.

*Scholion 24.* The venerable Simon the Holy Fool.

*Scholion 25.* He who attends to humility does not concern himself with human offense or blame.

*Scholion 26.* God, he says, rejoices in the humble, seeing them mocked and enduring it. But since this is impossible to be ^C successfully achieved among one's own kin, for this reason, exile from one's native land is the most perfect cause of humility.

*Scholion 27.* He understands the base of the mind to be aiming for the path that does not slip, that is to say, humility.

*Scholion 28.* Namely, of humility, so that we might not even admit a thought of contradiction; for this is what "the sound" means.

*Scholion 29.* When you hear a useful word, do not judge the one who speaks, so that you do not deprive yourself of the fruit of useful admonition.

*Scholion 30.* He who performs miracles is saved if he is protected by humility; but if this gift is bestowed upon someone of a lighter mind, ^D through the things that are done as wonders, he is exalted to a haughty frame of mind, and being cast down headlong, he will appear unprotected.

*Scholion 31.* What to learn? Or rather matters that are strictly appropriate [or are they not appropriate?].

*Scholion 32.* That is, what has been said by another and entrusted to him.

*Scholion 33.* We ought not to condemn ourselves merely with bare words, but with the perception and disposition of the heart; for he who reproaches himself in this way, and those who refute him or

^A treat him with contumely, he does not turn away from them as enemies, but loves them from the soul as benefactors.

*Scholion 34.* He who judges himself unworthy even of the least things from God, and while asking for the least things, asks as a sinner, receives great grace and forgiveness from God. For God is ready to give us greater things than we ask. But this grace is not conferred upon us as long as we sin willingly.

*Scholion 35.* He who lives justly, and does not seek a reward for his good deeds, but only forgiveness for committed sins, asks as if beyond his own merit; therefore, he will obtain from God things even beyond what is his status, because God is accustomed to give out of abundance more than we ask or understand.

*Scholion 36.* What is this? That which he said, namely, not being affected by the body (and the vices of the body).

*Scholion 37.* That the soul often knows how to conform itself to the external form and pursuits of the body is a demonstration made clear by the deed of the Lord.

*Scholion 38.* Observe how much contrition, for the sake of repentance, is produced by esteeming oneself as nothing and casting oneself away. For from the fact that one reproaches himself, the virtue of patience ^B passes also to him who reproaches and contemns another.

*Scholion 39.* Humility without works has the power to blot out many offenses; but works without humility are, on the contrary, as if useless; indeed, they often bring forth many evils for us. Furthermore, as I said, blot out your sins in humility.

*Scholion 40.* Superbia makes demons out of angels.

*Scholion 41.* Humility makes angels out of demons, says Climacus.

*Scholion 42.* Signs, manifestations, and occasions for humility.

*Scholion 43.* For the soul adapts itself to the studies of its occupations, and is fashioned by those things which it does, and forms itself toward these. ^C

*Another.* Let your habit, your gait, your garment, your chair, your manner of life, the arrangement of your bed, your house, and all the vessels that are in the house be composed toward utility and poverty; and furthermore, let your speech, your singing, and your meeting or conversation with another be directed toward mediocrity rather than toward ostentation.

*Scholion 44.* A definition of humility from its efficient power [from its efficient cause]. ^D

GRADUS XXVI. On the Discerning of Thoughts, Vices, and Virtues.

^A Discerning in beginners and those who are newly instructed is the perfect and true knowledge of their own interior state. In those who are intermediate, or the proficient, it is a certain sense of the mind which, without error, judges what is good in the proper sense from that which is natural and from its opposite. In the perfect, it is knowledge arising from divine illumination, which is able to illuminate with its own light whatever is obscure in others. Or perhaps, generally and encompassing everything, this both is and is understood to be discernment: namely, the certain and firm comprehension of the divine will at any time, in any place, and in any matter, which only those who are pure in heart, body, and mouth possess. He who has religiously prostrated these three has also prostrated the five. He who neglects them will overcome neither.

Discernment is an undefiled conscience and a pure and chaste sense. Let no one, when he hears or sees something in the religious state of life being done beyond the power of nature, fall into unbelief out of ignorance of things; for wherever God, who is above nature, dwells and is present, there most things are accustomed to happen beyond the faculty of nature. ^B By these three most general ways the devil wages war against us: by negligence, by pride, and by his own envy. The first is to be pitied, the second is most miserable, but the third is most blessed. Let us use our conscience within the scope and rule of God as a standard, so that, having known from whence the blowing of the winds arises, we may then stretch our sails toward them.

In all our religious exercises, the demons dig three pits for us. First, they struggle that we might do no good. But when they are overcome and have retreated from the first battle, they endeavor to corrupt the end of the good work, that it be not done for the praise ^C of God. If even here, however, these thieves have strayed from the mark, then at last they are present in the silence of rest, and they praise us in our soul, claiming we do all things according to the will and honor of God. The remedy for the first is diligence and the meditation on death; for the second, subjection and contempt of self; for the third, constant self-reproach. This is the labor before us, until the fire of God shall enter into our sanctuary. For there will no longer be any concern or necessity for the vicious affections or habits of our former life, once they have been commanded in the mind. ^D For God is a fire consuming every heat of the senses and all depraved motions, presumption, and blindness, both interior and exterior, which resides in our thoughts. The demons, however, are accustomed to do the opposite of all that has now been said. For when they have rendered the soul subject to them and have extinguished the light of the mind, then there is no longer in us miserable ones any sobriety, no discernment, no knowledge, no reverence, but indolence and stupor of mind, indiscretion, and blindness of heart.

For those who have returned from impurity to sobriety know these things which have just been commemorated very well and clearly.

and who, from excessive self-confidence, have passed to modesty, and from impudence to shame, and who, after the recovery of their mental health and the resolution of their blindness—or rather of their corruption—are ashamed before themselves for what they formerly said and did while living in blindness. Unless it grows dark and night falls first, thieves will not easily steal, slaughter, or destroy anything in the light of the soul and the day. A theft is the hidden captivity of the soul; a sacrifice of the soul is the slaughter of the reasoning mind when it has fallen into improper deeds; and destruction is the despair that follows after sin. Let no one plead inability regarding the evangelical commandments; for there are souls that have done even more than what was commanded. You will be fully persuaded of this by the statement of him who loved his neighbor more than himself, and who laid down his life for him, ^B although he had received no commandment from the Lord to do so. Let those who are humble, even if they are still subject to the passions of the soul, be of good courage; for even if they fall into all the pits, and are ensnared in all the traps of the snares, and suffer from every disease; yet, after they have attained health, they shall become luminaries, physicians, lamps, and guides to all, teaching the ways of every disease, and saving those who are about to fall by their own experience. If some are still tyrannized by past habits of sin, and yet are able to teach others through simple, unadorned speech, let them teach; perhaps, at some time, becoming ashamed by their own words, they will begin to practice what they preach (though they should not command or govern). And it will happen to them what we have seen happen to some who, while wallowing in the mire of filth, taught others how they themselves had fallen into such a quagmire, doing so in order to keep them safe, lest they fall into the same pit of sin by their example. But God, who can do all things, for the sake of the salvation of others, delivered these very men from the mire of their sins. But as for those who voluntarily and ^C deliberately cast themselves into pleasures, let them keep silence and teach by their silence. For this reason JESUS began both to do and to teach.

Gradus XXVI

It is a difficult, a truly difficult crossing, O humble monks, that we are making, across a sea filled with many gusts of wind, and shoals, and whirlpools, and pirates, and waterspouts, and rocks, and beasts, and waves. By the rock, let us understand fierce and suddenly rising anger; by the whirlpool, when a hopeless vertigo encompasses the mind on all sides and strives to cast it down into the deep abyss of despair; by the shallows and the sands, ignorance, which mistakes and embraces evil as good; by the beasts, this heavy and wild body; by the pirates, those most wicked ministers and artificers of vainglory, who plunder our cargo and the labors and fruits of our virtues; by the wave, the inflated and swollen belly, ^D which drives us by its own impulse toward that beast and

^A casts us down; or accept the siphon, pride, cast from heaven, which currently raises us up to heaven, but soon thrusts us down to the abyss.

Learned men know what things are appropriate for beginners, what for those making progress, and what for the masters themselves. Let us attend carefully, lest, by lingering too long on the alphabet, we be found still in the rudiments, which everyone knows is disgraceful—to see an old man going to elementary school.

This alphabet is the best of all: A, obedience; B, fasting; C, hairshirt; D, ashes; E, tears; F, confession; G, silence; H, humility; I, vigils; K, fortitude; L, cold; M, labor or fatigue; N, distress; O, contempt; P, contrition; Q, forgetfulness of injuries; R, brotherly love; S, humility; T, simple and uncurious faith; U, renunciation of the world; X, hatred of parents (which is not at all hateful); Y, freedom and detachment from all things; Z, simplicity combined with innocence [without malice], and voluntary lowliness.

The lot and duty of those who are progressing is victory over vainglory and anger, good hope of salvation, peace of soul, discernment, a firm and fixed memory of the final judgment, mercy [compassion], hospitality, modest reproof, prayer free from every sinful affection, and contempt of money.

But the definition, rule, and law for those [the perfect] who live religiously in the flesh is this: A heart free from all captivity, B perfect charity, C a fountain of humility, D departure from the mind (from the vanity of the world), E immigration of Christ, F a treasury of light and divine prayer secure from robbers, G abundance of divine illumination, H desire of death, I hatred of life, K flight from the body, L an envoy or patron and advocate of the world, M one who can (in a way) constrain God, N a colleague and fellow-mystic of angels, O the depth of most profound knowledge, P a dwelling-place of celestial mysteries, Q a guardian of divine secrets (or those secret to God), R the salvation of men, S a god to demons, T lord of the vices, U emperor of the body, X procurator of nature, Y alien to sin, Z a seat of a tranquil mind and one freed from all desires, an imitator of the Lord, by the help of the Lord himself.

We must watch very soberly when the body is struggling with sickness. For the demons, seeing us prostrate, and seeing that we cannot, because of the feebleness and failing of our strength, use the accustomed weapons of our exercises against them, are accustomed then to attack most fiercely. In those living in the world, the spirit of anger and sometimes also of blasphemy attacks the sick. But as for the religious who live outside the tumults of the world, if they have an abundance of food and all necessary things, the spirit of gluttony and lust harasses them. But others, who are destitute of all bodily comfort and live in rugged places suitable for the athletes of Christ, the tyrant of despondency and sadness infests. I have observed and noted that the wolf of lust increases the pains of those in labor, and in the very pains themselves, he causes movements and emissions. And it was a shocking thing to behold in severe pains the flesh becoming vigorous and raging. And I turned again and saw some lying down, and upon the bed itself being comforted either by divine energy or by compunction; and yet, through that consolation, they warded off the pains, so as to be in such a state that they did not want to be released from the sickness ever. And I turned again and saw some being tortured, and through the sickness, as if by some punishment,

^A they were cured of the sicknesses of the soul, and I glorified Him who cleanses mire by mire.

A spiritual mind is also endowed with spiritual sense, so that we may never cease to seek it within us, even if it is not in us. For once that sense is discovered and apprehended, the senses of the external body will altogether cease from their own functions. And this is what one of the wise ones knowingly said: "And you shall find divine sense" (Prov. 2:5). Let the monastic life be in the sensibility of the heart, in deeds and words, and in thoughts and movements. If not, it is not monastic, to say nothing of angelic.

There is one thing in God's providence, ^B another in aid, another in protection, another in the mercy of God, and another in consolation. Providence appears in the entire work of nature; aid is for believers alone; protection is for those Christian believers who are truly faithful; mercy is shown to the individual servants of God; and consolation is shown to those who love God. It happens sometimes that what is medicine for one person becomes poison for another. Moreover, the very same thing, when administered to the same person at the proper time, becomes a remedy, but when offered at an improper and untimely moment, it becomes poison. I have seen an unskilled physician ^C who reviled an afflicted, battered patient, and achieved nothing more than to bring him to despair. And I have seen a skillful one who, by means of disgrace, performed surgery upon a puffed-up heart and drained away all its festering corruption. I have seen the same patient at one time drinking the remedy of obedience to wash away the filth of the soul, so that he became vigorous, prompt, walking, and watchful; and at other times, suffering in the eye of the soul, he remained motionless, silent, and persevered without any meeting or conversation with anyone. "He who has ears to hear, let him hear" (Luke 8:8).

There are some—though I do not know from where, for I have not learned to judge or curiously investigate the gifts of God by my own estimation—who by their very nature, so to speak, are inclined toward continence, or toward ^D quiet, or toward purity, or toward modesty, or toward gentleness, or toward compunction. And there are others who, having experienced a nature refractory toward all these things, exert force upon themselves according to their strength; and though they are sometimes overcome, I nevertheless prefer them to the former as conquerors of their nature (24). Do not boast, O man, of wealth or treasures gained without labor. For the heavenly Giver, having foreseen your loss, weakness, and destruction, has saved you at least to some extent by His gifts and graces, bestowed freely without your labor (25). Also, instruction from tender years, and upbringing (26), and daily studies combine—or else oppose—our growth toward virtue and toward the monastic life. To monks, the angels are a light (27); but to all men, the monastic life is a light. Therefore, let them struggle to become a pattern of goodness in all things, giving no offense to anyone in anything, in whatever they may do or say.

If the light within us becomes darkness ^A, how much more darkened will the darkness be—that is, those who live in the world? Therefore, if you listen to me, or rather, if you are willing to obey, it is good for us not to distract ourselves or to divide our wretched soul, nor to fight against thousands of thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand enemies; for we will not be sufficient to learn all their deceits, or even to discover them at all. Let us arm ourselves with the Holy Trinity against the triple enemy, by means of the triad. Otherwise, we will bring many labors upon ourselves; for indeed, if He who [344 turns the sea into dry land] should also be within us, our Israel—that is, the mind that beholds God—will certainly pass through it without waves and will see the Egyptians suffocated in the waters of tears. But if He is not dwelling in us, who will withstand the roaring of its waves, that is, the assault of this flesh? If God arises within us through practice, His enemies will be dispersed 345; and if ^B we draw near to Him through contemplation, [346 they that hate Him will flee from before His face] and ours. Let us strive to learn divine things by sweat rather than by empty words. For at the time of departure from this life, it will be necessary to show the Judge not words, but deeds. Those who hear of a treasure hidden in a place search for it, and once it is found by their own labor, they guard it; for those who become rich without labor scatter it. It is difficult to overcome inveterate or vicious habits without effort. But those who daily add new ones to these have either despaired of themselves or have derived no profit from their submission. Nevertheless, I know that God can do all things, and nothing is impossible for Him.

Some have posed to me a question or contemplation that is difficult to judge, one exceeding the capacity of all those like me, and not contained in any of the books that have come down to us. They ask: "What are the specific offshoots of the eight capital vices? Or ^C who is the progenitor of the remaining five out of the three capital ones?" To this excellent question, I pleaded my own ignorance, but I learned as follows from the most holy Fathers: Gluttony is the mother of lust; vainglory is the mother of acedia; and sadness is the offspring of these three, as is anger; while vainglory is the mother of pride. To those ever-memorable Fathers, I replied again, earnestly desiring to learn further concerning the offspring of the eight vices, and which are the result of which parent. Those blessed ones taught me kindly, saying that there is neither order nor reason in those senseless vices, but only confusion and inconstancy, which those blessed ones demonstrated with apt and appropriate examples. Having brought forward many clear and ^D evident proofs, from which we are now compiling some for the present discourse, so that from them we might be enlightened concerning the rest, I will give an example: Laughter, when out of season, sometimes arises from the spirit of lust...

sometimes from vainglory, when a person boasts inwardly with shamelessness and impudence; sometimes from gluttony and the enjoyment of food. Likewise, excessive sleep arises sometimes from an abundance of food, sometimes on the contrary from fasting, when those who abstain from food are puffed up with pride; sometimes it comes from sloth, and sometimes even from nature itself. Loquacity arises sometimes from gluttony, sometimes from vainglory. Sloth takes its beginning sometimes from excessive luxury, and sometimes from a lack of the fear of God. Blasphemy is, strictly speaking, the offspring of pride; yet not infrequently it follows from a rash judgment regarding the same matter. Sometimes it arises from the wicked envy of a demon. ^B Hardness of heart arises either from satiety of food, or from a certain stupor of the soul, or from an attachment to created things. Affection for these things, however, sprouts sometimes from an impure spirit, sometimes from avarice, or gluttony, or vainglory, and thus from many other things. Malice, in turn, arises from the swelling of the soul, from self-estimation, and from anger. [(57)] Hypocrisy proceeds from this, that a person sometimes pleases themselves too much or believes that they are self-sufficient, and that they themselves can be their own master and arbiter of their life. But the virtues that are opposed to these vices spring from contrary fountains. And, not to say too much—for time will fail me if I wish to examine each one individually—the true and proper expeller and destroyer of all the aforementioned vices is humility, which those who have acquired it have mastered all things. [(38)] The mother of all evils is lust and malice, and he who is possessed by them shall not see the Lord; but we shall derive no profit from abstaining from the former if we persevere in the latter. Let us take an example of the fear of the Lord from princes or magistrates and wild beasts. And for an example of desire for God, let there be for you the model of the love for bodies; for there is nothing to prevent us from drawing examples even from contraries to clarify the virtues.

The present age is very corrupt, and is full of pride and hypocrisy, perhaps in some way representing the external bodily labors according to the manner of our first parents, yet not deemed worthy of the celestial gifts of grace; although, I believe, nature never stood in need of those graces as it does now; and deservedly; for God is not captured and found through labors, but through simplicity and humility. Although the power of the Lord is perfected in weakness, ^C the Lord will not reject a humble minister. When we see one of our athletes afflicted in body, let us not be eager to learn the cause of the sickness from malice; nor shall we assign the disease to malice, but rather, in simple and guileless love, as if receiving a domestic member and a soldier wounded in battle, let us take care of him. There is a sickness sent by God for the cleansing of sins, and there is one to humble the mind. Our good and all-good Master and Lord [(42)], when He often sees some who are more sluggish regarding their asceticism, henceforth through sickness, as through an easier exercise, humbles the flesh; and there are times when He also cleanses the soul of evil thoughts and passions. All things are for us ^D

^A that befall us, whether they be visible or invisible, either to be accepted with virtue, or with vice, or in some middle way. I once saw three monks who were alike mistreated and fined; the first took the loss indignantly, the second bore the loss without perturbation, and the third even derived great joy from it. I saw among farmers the same kind of seed being sown by two people, but each possessed his own distinct goal: one so that he might pay his debts, another so that he might hoard riches for himself, another so that he might honor the Master with gifts, another that he might hunt for praise from those passing by on the road of life ^B, another that he might vex his rival by making him jealous, and another so that he might not be reproached by men as a sluggard. These are the names of the seed sown by the farmers: fasting, vigil, almsgiving, service, and the like. But the brethren will eagerly examine in the Lord their intentions, just as those who draw water from springs 48; for it happens occasionally that we inadvertently draw up, along with the water, what is called a frog. Likewise, as we practice the virtues, we often practice the vices that are secretly woven into them; I mean, for example: with hospitality gluttony is woven 49; with love, fornication; with discernment, guile 50; with prudence, wickedness; with gentleness, deceit, and sloth, and idleness, and contradiction, and eccentricity, and disobedience; with silence, the pride of teaching; with joy, conceit; with hope, sloth; with love, again, judging others; with stillness, listlessness and sloth; with purity, bitterness; with humility, boldness. And to all these, as if it were a common eye-salve—or rather, a poison—vainglory attaches itself. We should not be saddened if we ask the Lord for petitions and are not heard for a time. For the Lord wishes all men to become dispassionate in a single moment of time. All who ask for petitions from God and do not receive them fail to obtain them for one of these reasons: either because they ask ahead of time, or because they ask unworthily and in vainglory, or because if they did receive them they would become puffed up, or because they would become negligent after obtaining their petition. No one, I suppose, doubts that demons and passions withdraw from the soul, either for a time or permanently. But very few understand the many ways in which their withdrawal from us occurs. The passions have withdrawn from some who were not only believers but also unbelievers 51, leaving behind that one thing ^C alone for them as a king of evils, and filling the place of all others, since it possesses such a capacity for harm that it could even cast someone down from heaven. Matter is consumed, burned up by divine fire 52, and rooted out of the soul. Demons withdraw voluntarily, making us careless, and then suddenly snatch the wretched soul, preparing it to be poisoned to the extreme by the passions, so that from then on it is self-willed and at war with itself. I know also of another withdrawal of the beasts after they have completely habituated the soul 53, and a model of what has been said is found in infants; for after the long habit, even without the breast, they suck from their own fingers. I know also of a fifth way in the soul ^D

^A of repose from perturbations, which consists in much simplicity and praised integrity and innocence: *For just is the help from the Lord to those who are righteous in heart*, and he delivers those who do not perceive them from evils; since even infants, when stripped of their garments, scarcely perceive that they are naked. Malice and vices are not naturally in nature, nor is God the author of vices. But many virtues have been implanted in us by nature by Him, of which these are manifest: Mercy, for by it even pagan nations are touched; charity, for not rarely even irrational animals have wept when they were [torn away from each other]; Faith, for we all beget this from ourselves; Hope, for when we receive or give anything to one another, and sail, and sow, we hope that we shall become rich in the future.

Since, therefore, as has been demonstrated, charity is ^B a virtue implanted in us by nature, and this is the bond and fulfillment of the law, then the virtues are not far from nature, and let those be ashamed who plead their own weakness in the practice of these virtues. Continence, freedom from anger, humility, prayer, vigils, fasting, and perpetual compunction are above nature. Of these, some have men as teachers and givers, some have angels, and some have the Word of God Himself; by a comparison of evils, we must choose the lighter. For example, it often happens that while we are occupied in prayer before God, ^C stranger brethren arrive; and one of two things must be left to us: either to interrupt the prayer, or to let the religious brother depart without a greeting and conversation, and cause him sorrow. Charity is greater than prayer: for the one is a private thing, but the other embraces all the virtues. When I was still younger, having once entered a city or village, while I sat at the table occupied by thoughts of gluttony and vainglory at the same time, and fearing the wicked offspring of ravenous gluttony, I chose rather to succumb to vainglory. I knew that the demon of vainglory was often overcome in young men ^D by the evil demon of the belly, and not without reason. For as among those who live in the world, avarice is the root of all evils, so in religion it is gluttony. Religious and spiritual men labor from time to time by divine permission with certain shortcomings, but very light ones, so that on account of certain trivial things that do not offend God, they might greatly blame themselves, and in the meantime acquire the treasure of humility, exposed to no spoilers. It is not possible for one who has not yet lived under the yoke of obedience to become humble immediately at the beginning of the religious life; since indeed whosoever has learned some art by his own will acts out trifles and follows shadows and phantoms.

By two virtues, which are the most common of all, the Fathers have defined the whole practical life, or that which is concerned with action, and not undeservedly so. For the one is destructive of pleasures, while the other

humility—confirms what the former has wrought, and does not allow pleasures to sprout again. Wherefore, mourning has a double power: that it blots out sin, and that it creates humility. It is the mark of the pious to give to everyone who asks; but it is even more the mark of the pious to bestow favors ^A even on those who do not ask. To not ask back, or to exact anything from one who has taken something from you, when you are most able to do so, is perhaps appropriate only to those who have stripped off every affection toward all mortal things.

In all our passions and virtues let us never cease to search, that we may understand where we stand—whether at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end. All ^B the wars of the demons against us arise and are fueled by these three causes: from the love and pursuit of pleasure, from pride, or from the envy of the demons themselves. The last are blessed, the middle are entirely miserable, and the first are useless until the end. There is a certain sense, or rather a state, called *phereponos* (labor-enduring), by which, once captured and occupied, one will no longer fear any labors nor ever refuse them. By this praiseworthy and glorious sense and spirit of virtue, the souls of the martyrs, having been seized, easily ^C despised all torments. It is one thing to have custody of thoughts, and another to have observation of the mind. By as much as the east is distant from the west, by so much is the second more noble and sublime than the former, even if it be more laborious. It is one thing to apply prayers against thoughts, and another to fight against them, and another to despise them and overcome them completely. Concerning the first mode, he who said, "O God, look to my help" (Ps. LXIX, 2), and things of this kind, bears witness. Concerning the second: "And I will answer those who bring a word of reproach against me" (Ps. CXVII, 42), that is, of contradiction. And again: "You have placed us in contradiction to our neighbors" (Ps. LXXIX, 7). Concerning the last, he who sang bears witness: "I was dumb, and I opened not my mouth, and I placed a guard over my mouth when the sinner stood before me" (Ps. XXXVI, 10). And again: "The proud acted iniquitously up to a point, but I did not decline from your contemplation" (Ps. CXVII, 51). The one in the middle often uses the former, because he is not sufficiently prepared and instructed by himself; the former can never deter and drive away the enemies by the second mode; but the third completely rejects and turns away the demons. It is naturally impossible for that which lacks a body to be comprehended or bounded by a body; but all things are possible to the Creator ^D of all things. Just as those who are healthy in the sense of smell can easily perceive aromas that are carried secretly, so too does a pure soul know the fragrance which it itself has acquired from God, and the stench from which it has been completely liberated, existing in others—perceiving it even when others perceive nothing. It is not possible for all to become passionless, but it is not impossible for all to be saved and reconciled to God. Beware lest those aliens dominate you, who wish to pry into the ineffable dispensations or visions of God occurring among men, and who imply that the Lord is a respecter of persons; for they are, and are known as, the offspring of conceit. There is a demon of avarice that often feigns humility; and there is

a demon of vainglory, which incites men to give alms (just as the spirit of lust also does). When we have been cleansed from both of these, let us never cease to show kindness to the poor in any place. Some have thought that demons contend and fight against one another. But I know that all of them seek nothing but our destruction.

^B Before all our pious and spiritual exercises, whether they are corporeal and subject to the eyes, or of the mind and intellect, there must precede the man’s own mind and purpose, and his best desire and affection, which are brought about by the succor and aid of God. For unless a purpose has been set forward, good works will not follow. If all things that are under heaven, as Ecclesiastes testifies, have their proper time in every matter, and among all things the affairs and concerns of our holy commonwealth are also established, let us see, if it pleases, and let us inquire into those things which are proper and convenient for each time in any given period. For there is entirely, for those who struggle in the contest of the religious life, a time when you stand free and tranquil from every perturbation of soul (I say this for the sake of those who are still in the infancy and apprenticeship of the contest). There is a time for tears, and a time for hardness of heart; a time for submission, and a time for commanding; a time for fasting, and a time for partaking; a time for war—the enemy of the body—and a time for peace, or death, with the heat of the flesh extinguished; a time for tempest in the soul, and a time for serenity in the mind; a time for sorrow in the heart, and a time for joy in the spirit; a time for teaching, and a time for learning; a time for defilements, perhaps on account of the pride of the soul, and a time for purging, on account of humility; a time for struggle, and a time for secure relaxation; a time for stillness, and a time for distraction-free occupation; a time to pray long and assiduously, and a time to minister faithfully. ^C Wherefore, let us not, deceived by a proud impulse of the mind, set out before the time to do those things which must be done in their own time, nor let us do in winter what belongs to summer, nor seek the harvest at the time of sowing; since there is a time for the labors of sowing, and a time for reaping the inexpressible harvests of graces. Otherwise, we shall not receive the things appropriate to their time even when the time comes. Some have received the holy rewards for their labors from God by an ineffable dispensation, some before their labors, some during the labors themselves, some after their labors, and some only at the hour of death. It must be inquired which of these is humbler than the other.

^D There is a kind of despair which arises from a multitude of sins, and from the weight of conscience, and from an intolerable sadness, when the soul is weighed down too much by the multitude of its wounds, and by the weight of its sins is swallowed up and absorbed in the deepest abyss of despair. And there is another despair that happens to us from pride and an estimation of self-importance, such that one deems oneself unworthy of the fall that has occurred. He who observes these two will discover this distinctive trait in both: the one, in his despair, henceforth abandons himself indiscriminately to all sins; the other keeps his practice in the midst of despair, which is inconsistent; but the

continent and the ones blessed with hope; the other is healed by humility and by judging no one. ^A We must not be astonished or surprised when we see some men doing evil things but speaking good words; since that serpent in paradise was also destroyed by pride, which lifted it up. Let this be for you a model and rule in all your undertakings and practices, whether you are in subordination or not, whether visible or intellectual, namely, to consider whether they are truly established according to God. I mean, therefore (a), whenever we undertake any project, if we do not gain from this activity more humility in our soul than we already possessed, it does not seem to me that we are performing it according to God, whether it be small or great. For in us, while we are still beginners, this is the certitude of the Lord's will; in the case of those who are intermediate, it is perhaps the withdrawal from temptations; but in the perfect, it is the increase and fullness of divine light. ^B Things judged small by the great are perhaps not small, and things judged great by the small are not in every respect perfect. The air, when cleansed of clouds, reveals the sun in its brightness; and the soul, having been granted the forgiveness of prejudices, has truly seen the divine light. It is one thing to have sin, another to be idle, another to be negligent; and one thing to have a passion, and another to have a fall. He who is able to seek in the Lord, let him seek openly. There are some who marvel at the wonder-working and the visible heavenly gifts in the eyes of men, and they extol and proclaim them above all else, while they are ignorant that there are many things far more excellent and hidden than these, and for this reason they remain without danger of falling. The man who has been perfectly purified sees the soul of his neighbor—or at least, if not entirely, the state in which it is disposed. But he who is still progressing makes a conjecture about the soul through the body. A small fire often consumes and purifies the whole forest, just as a small crack often ruins the entire fruit of one's labors. There is a rest that awakens the power of the mind through the hostile flesh, and yet does not stir up the burning of the flesh. And there is sometimes a great vexation of the body that nonetheless perhaps causes motions of the flesh, so that we may not be confident in ourselves, ^C but in Him who can secretly mortify the living feeling of the flesh. If we perceive that we are loved in a holy manner by certain people according to God, let us maintain modesty toward them above all else, lest we become too confident; for nothing so much harms and dissolves charity, and begets hatred, as excessive liberty of speech or over-familiarity. Intelligent and very beautiful is the eye of the soul, and it extinguishes and transcends every form, except for the angelic natures. Hence even those who are still subject to the perturbations of the mind are often able to perceive the thoughts in other souls because of a great love directed toward them; and especially when they are not weighed down or dirtied by the clay, if nothing else resists them by nature like material things. ^D The reader should understand this. Observations of things in the world are opposed to the providence of God, but in us they are opposed to intellectual knowledge. Those who are weak in soul from bodily circumstances and dangers, and from external distractions, toward the visitation of the...

Spirit and the addition of gifts, let them understand the care of God for them; but the perfect understand it from the presence of the Holy Spirit and the increase of heavenly graces. There is a demon who, when we lie down in bed to take rest, comes to us and attacks us with wicked and impure thoughts, so that, not having armed ourselves ^A with prayer against him because of our lethargy, we may fall asleep in filthy notions and so possess filthy dreams. There is one among the spirits called the precursor, who receives us immediately upon our waking from sleep and defiles the first-fruits of our thoughts. Offer to the Lord the first-fruits of your day, for they will belong to Him who anticipates it. ^A A worker of great excellence told me a saying worthy to be heard: "From the very beginning of the morning," he said to me, "I foresee the entire course of my day." There are many paths of piety and of destruction; therefore, often one who is opposed to another is in genuine harmony with a different one, and the goal of both is pleasing to the Lord. The demons wrestle with us through the temptations we experience, in order to make us say or do something improper. And when they do not succeed, they stand by quietly and suggest to us a proud thanksgiving to God; those who desire the things above, ^B by being separated, rise upward in part, while those who desire the things below descend again; for there is no middle ground remaining for those who are separated. One of the created works has received its being and nature in another, not in itself, and it is a marvel how that which has received its being or nature in another is able to subsist without that other. Mothers bring forth pious daughters, but the Lord brings forth the mothers, and it is not unwise to apply the same law or rule to opposites. "Let not the fearful go out to battle," as Moses, or rather God, commands, lest the final error of the soul become worse than the first fall of the body, and rightly so. The light of all the members ^C of the body is the eyes, which are subject to the senses; but the light of the intellect of all divine virtues is discernment.

SCHOLIA ON STEP XXVI. On Discernment.

from hidden passions. And pure in body is he who is free from the defilement of the flesh and who utters no falsehood with his mouth. ^A Scholion 3. According to the opinion of Mark (the monk), there are three giants: forgetfulness, ignorance, and sloth. If you sink these with divine grace, you will crush all the chariots of Pharaoh.

Scholion 4. A ship is sometimes overwhelmed by the waves from without, and sometimes it sinks from the bilge-water within. We too perish sometimes through external active sins, and sometimes we are destroyed by internal thoughts. We must therefore keep watch against the onsets of the spirits from without, and bail out the filth of the thoughts from within; yet one must apply greater labor to the mind in guarding against the thoughts.

Scholion 5. Unless through our own negligence we fall into ignorance, forgetfulness, and sloth, we shall not be deprived of the fruits of working according to the commandment; for unless the mind be darkened and dulled, the evil and vicious affections will not rule the soul.

Scholion 6. "Serum" (the late hour) and darkness of the soul are negligence, forgetfulness, and evil desire. He spoke this, therefore, according to common usage, which signifies that something happens "late," that is, slowly. Some call this "crepusculum" (twilight), whether morning or evening. ^B

Scholion 7. Abbot Leo.

Scholion 8. The word [anticipations], formerly was not used in a bad sense regarding those who labored under vicious affections, but rather of those who were indeed removed from every flagrant sin, but still sensed the odor of them. Climacus therefore removes the person so affected [from the task of] governing others, lest, having slipped into negligence, he be again involved in his former actions through the affection of his mind. Moreover, he forbids one who inclines and is enticed toward base actions to teach others.

Scholion 9. Good things must be spoken of even to one who performs evil, so that, feeling reverence for his own words, he may begin to do good. ^C

Scholion 10. He aptly called a gluttonous belly a wave of the sea; for through the thoughts, this storm instantly rushes toward a fall.

Scholion 11. The rudiments of the religious life and discipline are obedience, abstinence, patience, fortitude of mind, and the abandonment of all affection toward parents and wealth. For those who are making progress: long-suffering, kindness, goodness, compassion, endurance of evils, poverty, fasting, and fervent prayer; for the perfect... ^D

love, joy, peace, discernment, faultless in every season, place, and action.

Scholion 12. He understands by the "alphabet of the monks" the virtues, namely, of beginners or novices, corresponding to the number of twenty-four letters.

Scholion 13. By way of example, to associate with religious brothers and to labor and toil with them.

Scholion. The Decalogue of those who are making progress, the alphabet of the perfect. ^B

Scholion 14. Altogether, as it seems, humility becomes more robust with poverty; for just as someone, while considering the evils that befall him in poverty and humility, does not labor with the vice of impurity as a rich man does, nor will he be ungrateful or idle and lazy as a beggar might be, but rather rejoices that a time of gain is present and, being grateful to God, reaps fruit from it.

Scholion of Barsanuphius 15. Question. What is the sign of gluttony? Explain it to me. Response. When you see your thought delighting in food and urging you to anticipate almost everyone else, or to pull the dish toward yourself, this is gluttony. Therefore, watch yourself and exert force upon yourself to restrain and curb your gullet, so that you do not eat with impulse and great eagerness, but modestly and decently, and that you move the dishes away from yourself in preference to those who sit with you. But it is not proper, as I said, because of gluttony to refuse food immediately; rather, one must take care not to act in a disorderly fashion in the taking of food. Another argument and sign of gluttony is... ^C

Another. While you are fleeing gluttony, take care not to endeavor to please men by the pallor of your face, which (vain glory) strives to display openly.

Scholion 16. On account of the body, man is mortal; on account of the mind and speech, he is immortal. Being silent, you understand; having understood, you speak. For in silence the mind brings forth the word; and that word, being offered to God, is found to be the salvation of man.

Scholion 17. The rational sense is indeed in us, as though implanted in the soul in every human being; yet it is not in us as it is in those who are protected from the passions, since in those who are occupied by wicked affections, it is idle and unknown.

Scholion 18. He teaches that it is necessary for any religious person to investigate everything in himself, even down to his very thoughts and movements.

Scholion 19. The providence of God is diffused in all things. For things from above

that proceed from God, although they may exist within us, are not our own, but belong to grace and to providence. Help is present to all the faithful simply; divine guardianship is present to those who serve God faithfully. Mercy is offered to individual servants of God, and consolation is offered to those who love the Lord.

Scholion 20 of Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople. For example, fasting is a remedy that cleanses the base affections of the soul, if it be practiced and applied privately and apart. But in gatherings and public celebrations it becomes a poison, which often brings destruction to the one who uses it, or provides a scandal to others, or harms the man himself, who boasts and glories in it, and swells up, wishing to seem separate and distinct from others.

Scholion 21. A rebuke is a safeguard for the religious ^B who are unable to assist those who suffer through lack of experience. Know, therefore, that this religious discipline is just like a fuller's workshop or a medical clinic (as is evident from the fact that it involves washings and cauterizations), and it is much more religious and holy than those external and material ones, because it is concerned with much greater and more worthy matters, as it does not wash garments and robes, nor cure bodies, but souls.

Scholion 22. By "the eye," I think he refers to the affection of the thoughts that are in the mind. For the mind is the eye of the soul. Now, the avoidance of social meetings and conversation contributes to the curing of this disease ^C, just as, on the other hand, loquacity alone is prone to stir up fluxions.

Scholion 23 of Basil the Great. Silence should be moderated according to time and person. According to time, as when he says, "The prudent man shall keep silence in that time, for it is an evil time" (Amos v, 13). And in another place again, "I set a guard upon my mouth when the sinner stood against me" (Ps. xxxviii, 2). And according to the person, as when the Apostle writes, "But if it be revealed to another, let the first be silent" (1 Cor. xiv, 30); and again, "Let women be silent in the churches" (1 Cor. xiv, 34).

Scholion 24. To do violence to one's nature—even if one is in any way held back by long habits of sin—is ^D more profitable than that which is done according to nature without any violence.

Scholion 25. He affirms that labor without effort is without reward and easily dissipated; for crowns are woven in proportion to labors. For that saying of Christ, "You gave me to eat" (Matt. xxv, 35), and what follows, are works and symbols of labors.

Scholion 26. Upbringing contributes to the receiving of either the learning of virtue or, conversely, the ignorance of vice.

Scholion 27. We monks ought, even as for our own sakes,

and for the sake of those who behold us, to shine by our life and morals, not by the trumpet (or proclamation) of ostentation. For that saying of Christ, "Let your light so shine," is not a command to be heralded by ourselves; but just as a fire is said to shine in the darkness of the earth, so let your light shine in the darkness ^A.

Scholion 28. Our Lord Jesus Christ has bestowed light upon all; but those who do not follow it cast themselves into darkness.

Scholion 29. By the aid, he says, of the transcendent and holy Trinity, let us stand armed in battle against the three most general passions—namely, love of pleasure, love of money, and love of glory—by means of the three virtues by which these are destroyed—namely, continence, love, and humility. For love of pleasure is destroyed by continence; love of money by love, as it is a generous hand sharing all things with others; and love of glory by humility, which abhors all ostentation and execrates vainglory.

Scholion 30. If delights excite evil desires, and glory [excites] pleasures, those who are occupied with these stir up wars against themselves, or rather, I should say, they agitate them. For it is impossible in any way for one who is touched by the love of present and corporeal things not to be inwardly defiled by external things, and to slip back into the prior failings by which he was occupied. And thus ^C he draws and pours the force of his works into a perforated jar, as the saying goes.

Thalassii 31. When that which is prescribed is done, then it is called the action of the commandment; but virtue is when what is done is done to please the Truth.

Scholion 32. He who argues without works and prattles much gathers for himself a treasure from iniquity, and his labors, as Scripture testifies, will pass into the houses of others.

Photii 33. Whatever labor has not brought forth, and desire has not embraced and nurtured, is despised (for whether the question concerns action or contemplation), whatever is born without labor is readily held in contempt. ^D

Marci monachi 34. Preconception is an involuntary memory of former wicked objects, yet one restrained by the strong athlete of Christ so that it does not proceed into action; but by the victor, it is as if a certain impression has been made, which is dulled and removed.

Another. You who love letters, love also labor; for naked knowledge puffs up man.

^A

Scholion 35.

Another, of Saint Ephrem.

Scholion 36.

Scholion of Basil the Great, 37.

Scholion of Antony the Great, 38.

Scholion 39.

Scholion 40.

Scholion 41.

Another.

Another.

Scholion 42.

in the Lord, and striving earnestly for the salvation of his own soul, but is disposed negligently toward his training, is by all means allowed by God to fall into temptations, that he might not, by reason of his great idleness, slip into worse things. ^A

*Scholion 43.* This man excellently accepted the things that befell him, regarding them as punishments due to himself, and did not take it ill, but gave thanks.

*Scholion 44.* This man labors in vain; for he does everything for the sake of display.

*Scholion 45.* This one holds the title of a warrior.

*Scholion 46.* And this one, though he is ashamed. ^B

*Scholion 47.* But we, having examined these things, have decided to counsel others: that even if we are debtors as sinners, let us nevertheless honor the Master with gifts; for even if the first is more humble, namely that of debts, yet it is free from the danger of a fall, as is the first mentioned debt.

*Scholion of Gregory Nyssen 48.* There is no other substance of evil, ^C if not the separation from the good and the better.

*Another.* If wickedness (or vice and sin) were set before our life bare and nude, cloaked and colored by no opinion or shadow of good, the human race would not so spontaneously hasten toward it.

*Scholion of Mark 49.* He who is ignorant of the enemy's snares is easily slaughtered; and he who does not know the causes of the passions, falls easily.

*Scholion 50.* The destruction [death] of every virtue is vainglory.

*Another.* The enemy attacks us from every side; ^D hence he who wishes to be saved must be all-eyed (like Argus).

*Scholion 51.* He refers to pride, through which the devil fell.

*Scholion 52.* By the energy of the Holy Spirit, or by the heavenly desire which is preserved unextinguished in the heart.

*Scholion 53.* He used "to be accustomed" in place of: to be in the habit of the vice of the passions.

*Scholion 54.* If wickedness were natural, no one would be punished; nor again would anyone rightly achieve virtue by practicing it.

*Another.* Sin or evil lying outside of the will and by its own

^A nature, considered in itself, is nothing. *Another.* Wickedness is nothing other than the defect or privation of virtue. *Another.* Virtues in us are natural, such as almsgiving, charity, faith, hope; but those above nature are chastity, freedom from anger, humility, prayer, vigils, fasting. *Another of Mark.* The observance of a commandment is one thing, and virtue is another, even if they take the causes and occasions for good works from one another. The observance of a commandment is said to be the doing of what has been prescribed; virtue is when that which is done is performed in truth to please God. ^B *Scholion 55.* The teachers of chastity were Elias, John the Baptist the Forerunner, and John the Theologian; of meekness, Moses and David; of prayer, the Word of God Himself, and the angel who appeared to Antony and Pachomius; again, of fasting, Moses and the Lord Himself; again, of vigils, many, some of whom also possessed compunction; but of humility, He who for us became poor and needy, the Word of God who assumed our flesh, the Savior of all. *Scholion 56.* Libido is the offspring of the belly’s madness, he says, as being born from gluttony. ^C *Scholion 57.* For vainglory is more convenient to nature and more deceitful, and so it overcomes more deservedly. *Scholion 58.* This is the demonstration that he who has not submitted cannot be humble. Some have practiced inner obedience, while others have shown forth an external and apparent obedience, which is accepted on account of the former. *Scholion 59.* He is pious, not who has mercy on many, but who treats no one unjustly. *Scholion 60.* The guarding of thoughts is the repelling of the forms and images of thoughts by means of conflict or prayer; but the guarding of the mind is a heart ^D that can never be captured by the enemy, and a mind never distracted from the memory of God. *Scholion of Mark 61.* The first is of the weak, who, being unable to resist the enemies at all, put them to flight through prayer. The second is that of the strugglers, who overcome the enemies through the ascetic practice of virtues; the third is that of the contemplatives, who, being raised up through contemplation, are untouchable by the adversaries and, so to speak, unconquerable. *Scholion of Syncletica 62.* He who has his own stench in his nostrils

does not smell another's, even if he were to stand upon mere corpses. ^A

*Another.* The human mind, being inconstant by nature, is then liberated and stabilized from errors and wanderings when it is coupled with God. For all its things are in God, and it no longer has any work pressing upon it, or anything outside of God toward which it might rush or wander off.

*Another.* When others have perception; for this cannot be perceived. For he who has attained the tranquility of soul, having been stripped of all vicious affections, has received the grace of God to perceive and feel what is in others.

*Scholion 63.* For being led by avarice so as not to give anything away, he feigns humility, while pretending that he is fleeing the desire of pleasing men.

*Scholion 64.* Observe the accurate diligence of the father: where, he says, there is intent and desire, there also the help of God assisting in the work is not lacking.

*Another.* A good intent appears when, distinguishing the good from the evil, we choose the good. An evil intent, when we choose the contrary to the good knowingly and willingly.

*Another.* Offer to God a good intent, and you will experience ^C the help of God.

*Isaaci 65.* Whoever undertakes something prematurely, which is above his strength and shoulders, brings upon himself double harm, and not advantage. For inexperienced merchants in the greatest matters bring upon themselves great losses; but in lighter matters, they quickly progress forward. Wherefore, for all things there is an order, and for every institution its own legitimate time is appointed.

*Scholion 66.* Let no one who is given over to vices despair of his salvation, not being ignorant that agriculture changes the properties of plants. But the diligence and care of the soul ^D regarding virtue is capable of overcoming and healing all kinds of maladies of the soul.

*Another.* The sin unto death is that of the impenitent man, for whom, even if a saint should pray for another, he is not heard.

*Another of Basil the Great.* If the multitude and magnitude of the mercies of God, when compared with the multitude and magnitude of sins, could be numbered and exhausted and limited by measurement, then there would be cause for despair. But if sins, as is fitting, have a limit and can be numbered, while the mercy and compassions of God cannot be numbered but are without measure, there is no place for despair.

^A

Scholion of Gabriel the monk and hesychast of Mount Latrus 67.

He who presumes to be someone and to teach others—things of which he himself has no experience, whether by knowledge or by practice—suffers from a double disease and a double blindness: conceit and vainglory, insensibility and ignorance. And if to these he adds gluttony, they cast him who has acquired them into manifest danger and eternal shame, and he shall hear from many: "Physician, heal thyself." ^B

Scholion 68.

"In subjects," that is, in those entrusted to you by men. "Not in subjects," that is, in those who are not under the command of men, living according to their own impulse and exercising themselves in private, and not being in subjection to anyone.

Scholion 69.

A careful investigation into how we all might be able to know if our work, whatever we are doing, is pleasing to God.

Scholion 70.

Work that is done according to the will of God brings humility to beginners; to those who are in the middle, it brings withdrawal from enemies; and to the perfect, it adds light to light, and illuminates them more and more.

Scholion 71.

Because the things that are thought to be small by the great are perhaps not small on account of their perfection, while those thought to be great by the small are not entirely great on account of their imperfection; the same must be understood regarding virtues and vices.

Scholion of Marcus the monk 72.

(a) Anticipation is an involuntary remembrance of former evils, which prevents the athlete of Christ from advancing to the point of committing a passion; but in the case of the victor, it is removed and deleted even at the point of the first impression.

Scholion 73.

Sin is the violation or transgression of every commandment, even the least; sloth is the failure to do and perform the works of God; negligence is doing these things, but doing them listlessly; a passion is a fixed and hard-to-eradicate inclination of the mind toward things that are harmful; a fall is when one slips into unbelief or into bodily passions. ^D

Isaac 74.

Be on guard against small things, lest you fall from the great.

Scholion of Isaac 75.

Approach your friends with reverence; when you do this, you will benefit both yourself and others, for under the pretext of love, the soul is accustomed to casting off the bridle of its own self-guarding.

^A Scholion 76. Nothing renders the mind so turbid, and so completely blinds it, as the filth of the flesh, by which it is defiled from the impurity of shameful pleasures.

Scholion 77. When one who is sick in spirit maintains patience in sickness and temptations, let him understand that the divine goodness is visiting him. Those who are perfect do not remain ignorant of this, thanks to their high knowledge of grace.

Scholion 78. This is not for just anyone, but for the one who is studious and diligent.

Scholion. To one calling toward destruction.

Scholion. To one inviting toward piety.

Scholion 79. The purpose in both cases is the flight from evil and the pursuit of good.

^B Scholion 80. By "separation" he here means death; and that as those who die leave the body on earth, some with the soul alone ascend on high, while others who have set their minds on earthly things descend after death to Hades; and that after that separation, no intermediate place—that is, in this world—is left thereafter.

Scholion 81. I think he is speaking of the soul, which exists neither before nor after the body, but is created at the same time as the body. Hence, he who destroys an embryo, or the fetus first conceived in the womb once it is ensouled, is judged a murderer; for at that time the soul acts only as much as the flesh, since for the growth of the body it contributes its own powers accordingly. It is wonderful, then, he says, how that which was created in the body is able to exist, naked and without body, after the separation; but this is the decree of God. But if certain persons suppose that the question here proposed refers to fire, let them know that the fire which proceeds from the stone and iron (for fire is the offspring of these two) cannot exist without other material. For unless someone who knows how to receive and nourish the struck fire is quickly present to receive it, it perishes immediately; whereas the soul, until its future divine reunion with its own body, awaits and endures.

On Discerning Discernment.

Just as the deer, burning with heat, thirsts for springs of water, so among religious men is the knowledge or comprehension of the good and divine will desired; and not only this, but also the knowledge of that which is mixed, and indeed also of that which is contrary. Concerning these matters, our discourse is truly great and

^A arduous to interpret; and as to which of these things ought to be done by us without delay, and [which ought to be done] faster than any postponement, according to him who says: "Woe to him who delays from day to day, and from time to time." And again, which [others] are to be done with gentleness and circumspection; as he counsels who said: "With guidance war is waged," and again: "Let all things be done decently and in order." For it is not, it is not for just anyone to discern such things clearly and quickly, seeing as even the God-bearer, who has the Spirit speaking within himself, often seems to pray for this; sometimes saying: "Teach me to do your will, for you are my God," and sometimes again: "Guide me in your truth," and again: "Make known to me, O Lord, the way in which I should walk, for to you I have lifted up my soul," and I have raised it above all the care of this mortal life and ^B of vicious affection. Whoever have willed to learn the Lord's will, have been bound to die to themselves [al. to mortify themselves first]. Therefore, with faith and without malice, denying themselves, praying in simplicity, and having asked the fathers or brothers in humility and with an unwavering heart, they should receive what is counseled by them as if offered from the mouth of God, even if the things said happen to be contrary to their own purpose, and even if those asked are not established[ly] very spiritual; for God is not unjust to let souls be deceived that through faith and innocence have humbled themselves to the counsel and judgment of their neighbor, even if those asked happen to be irrational; but He who speaks is bodiless and invisible.

They are full of great humility who ^C follow the rule we have previously mentioned without wavering. For if someone in a psalter would open his own proposition, how much more do you think that a rational mind and a spiritual soul differ from an inanimate utterance? Many, not yet having grasped from self-complacency this perfect and light good which has been set forth—but having attempted to grasp the acceptable will of the Lord from themselves and in themselves—have set forth for us very diverse and most numerous judgments concerning this. Some of those who were searching for the divine will, having departed from every effort, [having placed] their own reasoning upon both desires of the soul, I mean both the one attempting and the one speaking against, and having presented their own naked mind of its own will in fervent prayer for set days to the Lord, have attained the knowledge of His will; either by a mind, intellectual of the intellectual, speaking intellectively with our mind, or by the one thought being completely extinguished from the soul. Others, from the affliction and distraction that followed upon the attempt, grasped that this was divine, according to him who said: "We wanted to come to you, once, and twice, and Satan hindered us." Others ^D [grasped] the contrary again.

perceiving that their undertaking was a grace from God, remembering that: "To everyone proposing good, God cooperates." He who possesses God within himself through divine illumination is not naturally accustomed, whether in urgent matters or in matters awaiting time, to be fully satisfied by the second mode, but rather to be informed and taught by God without delay. To hang for a long time in doubtful matters and judgments, and to remain for long in uncertainty, is a proof of a soul laboring under the vice of vainglory rather than one enlightened. God is not unjust, so as to exclude those who knock with humility; the intent is looked upon by God in everything, both in matters that must be executed immediately and in those which must be deferred. For all things that are pure of passionate inclination, and free from any defilement, being done truly and solely for the sake of the Lord, and not for any other reason, even if they are not entirely good, will nonetheless be reckoned to us as good. For a searching that exceeds oneself possesses an end that is not free from danger. The judgment of the Lord concerning us is hidden and inexplicable. For often, by his wise administration, he wishes to hide his own will from us, knowing that if we learned it, we would not obey it, and would consequently incur greater and more numerous punishments. A heart is delivered from the variety of matters, sailing safely in the ship of innocence.

There are certain noble souls who, ignited with heavenly love and humility of heart, attempt things greater than they can perform. And there are proud minds who do the same. For the scope and end of our enemies is to impel us to attempt things that exceed our powers, so that through them we may also neglect and lose those things which are within our capability, and thus make ourselves a most great laughingstock to our enemies. I have even seen souls and bodies, weak because of a multitude of falls, undertaking things beyond their strength, and being unable to endure it; these I have taught that repentance before God is judged by the amount of humility, and not by the extent of labors and sweats. There are times when upbringing becomes the cause of the ultimate evils; there are times when it is one’s companions; yet often a corrupted soul is sufficient in itself for its own destruction. He who lives in solitude is free from two [causes of downfall], and perhaps even from a third. But he who labors under the third vice is wicked in every place; for no place is safer than heaven. As for those who attack us with evil intent, whether they be pagans or heretics, let us abandon them after one or two admonitions. ^D But in instructing those who truly desire to learn from the heart, let us never falter in presenting a good work. Rather, let us use both for the establishment of our heart. He is very foolish who, when he hears of the virtues of the saints, which exceed the powers of nature, despairs of himself on that account. Rather, of the two, either one trains you in the best way: either they rouse you to imitate by the example of holy and noble virtue,

^A or they lead you through the most holy humility to the acknowledgement of yourself and the recognition of your own imbecility. There are, among the impure demons, some more wicked than others, who urge us not to sin alone, but to recruit others as associates in wickedness, so that they may ensure for us a heavier punishment. I have seen one who learned a wicked habit of sinning from another, and the one who had taught another to sin came to his senses and began to do penance and ceased from the evil; but because of the sins of the one whom he had taught, the repentance of him [the teacher] was made fruitless and vain. Truly, the wickedness of the spirits is manifold, very manifold and hard to grasp, and visible to few; indeed, I think it is entirely visible to no one. How is it that we who live delicately and are stuffed with food keep watch, as it were, with sobriety, while we who are fasting and afflicted are mercifully plunged into sleep? Or how is it that, while dwelling in silence and quiet, we suffer from hardness of heart, yet when we are among others we are pricked to the heart? Wasted by hunger we are vexed in our dreams, yet when sated we remain untempted. In poverty and sobriety we are confused and hard, yet when we drink wine we are cheerful and prone to tears and compunction? In these matters, may He who is able to enlighten us in the Lord, enlighten and teach us, for we are blind in such things. Although we do affirm this, that these sorts of changes of state do not always come from evil spirits. And it happens that sometimes this occurs to me, I know not how, on account of the concretion and the filthy and seductive fatness bestowed upon me and wrapped around me. Regarding this, which is difficult to judge, and which commonly occurs in the vicissitudes and changes demonstrated above, let us purely, sincerely, and submissively beseech the Lord; and if, after suppliant prayers and a passage of time, we perceive that what occurs happens in the same way nonetheless, then we shall ascribe it not to the wickedness of demons, but to nature. Very often divine providence disposes a thing in such a way that it wishes to benefit us through opposites, in order to blunt our proud sense in every way. It is difficult to inquire too curiously about the arcana of divine judgments; for the curious travel in the ship of pride. ^D A certain man among the more provident asked someone why God, while foreseeing and knowing the falls of some, yet adorned those very same persons with heavenly graces and with signs of miracles? To which he replied: "In order to make the rest of the religious men more cautious, and at the same time to show the freedom of our will, and to make those who have fallen inexcusable in the judgment." The Law, as imperfect, says: "Take heed to thyself." But the Lord, as far more perfect, has entrusted to us the care and correction of a brother, saying: "If thy brother shall sin against thee," and so forth. If your rebuke is pure and humble, or rather a reminder, do not refuse to do the command of the Lord, especially among those who are ready to receive it. But if you have not yet attained such perfection, at least what

^A you have regarding God Almighty, and the angels, and the holy ones, to have them as co-workers, and in opposition—the evil one, and the demon alone—we are more fittingly and more swiftly inclined towards the passions. Regarding this, I am not able, nor do I wish, to speak with precision. For if all things that have come into existence have their nature as they were created, how am I the image of God, and yet am mixed and leavened with clay? As the great Gregory says. But if some of the things that have been created have come to be otherwise than their nature dictates, are they not in every way greedily reaching out for their own kinship? Let one apply every device, if I may so say, so that he may bring this clay and enthrone it on the throne of God.

Therefore, let no one find an excuse against the ascent; for the path and the door are open ^B. The hearing of the achievements of the spiritual fathers awakens the mind and the soul to zeal; and the hearing of instruction is a lamp for darkness, a way back for those who have wandered, an illumination for those who have dim sight. One who possesses discernment is a finder of health and an expeller of disease. For two reasons all those who are called "little-marvel-workers" are naturally disposed to suffer this: either out of supreme ignorance, or with the aim of humility, by magnifying and extolling the virtues of their neighbor. Let us strive not only to wrestle but to wage war against the demons; for he who only wrestles sometimes strikes and sometimes is struck, but those who wage war always pursue the enemy. He who overcomes the passions wounds the demons; for he pretends to have the passions, and through this he deceives his enemies, while remaining unassailable by them. One of the brothers ^C was once insulted, and, not being moved at all in his heart, he prayed in his mind; and then he began to lament over the insults, hiding his own impassibility by means of a feigned passion. Another brother, entirely averse to the first seat, pretended that he was striving for it. And how shall I describe to you the purity of that man who, for the sake of sin, rushed into a brothel as if he were about to sin, but pulled the harlot out and brought her to the religious life? To another of those living in stillness, someone brought a bunch of grapes very early in the morning; and after the departure of the one who had brought the grapes, with great impetuosity and without any taste or appetite, he devoured them, so that he might appear to the demons as a glutton. Another, having lost some palm leaves, pretended to be grieving all day long. But for these things there is need of much caution and sobriety, ^D lest, while they attempt to play with the demon, they themselves at last become the sport of the demon. For these are truly those of whom someone said: "As deceivers, and yet true" (II Cor. vi. 8).

^A If anyone wishes to present a chaste body to the Lord and to show Him a pure heart, let him maintain gentleness and continence; for without these, all our labor is useless. Just as the lights of the eyes are various, so too are the many and diverse overshadowings in the soul from the sun of the intellect: one, indeed, comes through physical tears, and another through those of the soul; one appears through the eyes of the body, and another through the intellectual ones; one comes from the hearing of the word, and another is the exultation moved uniquely in the soul; one comes from silence, and another from obedience. In addition to all these, there is another which, by ecstasy, presents the mind in the light of Christ in an ineffable and unspeakable way. There are virtues, and there are mothers of virtues. The prudent man, therefore, strives more for the acquisition of the mothers; for God Himself is the teacher of the mothers by His own operation, whereas of their daughters there are many. Let us take care that we do not make up for the lack of luxurious food with excessive sleep; for this is the work of fools, just as the opposite is [that of the wise]. I have seen workers who, on a certain occasion, relaxed their stomach a little; but the brave ones, through an all-night vigil, ^B tormented the wretched thing and taught the surfeit to turn away with joy thereafter. The spirit of avarice struggles sharply against those who possess nothing; but when it fails, it then proposes the poor as a pretext, and induces those who were once immaterial to become material again. When we are faint-hearted, let us not cease to think of the Lord's command given to Peter, to forgive the one who sins seventy times seven. For He who commanded this to another would certainly do much more Himself. When we are lifted up with pride, let us think of what the One who spoke has said; whoever fulfills the whole spiritual law, but stumbles in one vice, that is, in pride, has become guilty of all. There are some states of wicked and envious spirits that withdraw involuntarily from the saints, so that they may not become the occasion of greater crowns for those who are struggling in invincible wars. Blessed indeed are the peacemakers (15), and no one contradicts this. But I have also seen ^C peacemakers who foster enmity. Two men were bound to one another in a profligate relationship; a certain man of the most knowledgeable and tried worth became a deacon of hatred toward each of them, slandering the one to the other as if he were reviling him, and the other to the first in the same way; and the wise man was able to thwart the wickedness of the demons with human craft and act as an intermediary to dissolve the profligacy (16). There is one who violates a commandment for the sake of a commandment. For I have seen young men dedicated to one another in a Godly love; and yet, for the sake of avoiding offense to others or for the sake of their conscience, they confirmed this toward one another and parted for a time. As marriage and a funeral are opposites, so pride and despair are discordant. And it is possible to behold both from the instability of demons, acting with one accord. There are some of the unclean demons that interpret the Holy Scriptures in the pro- ^D logue for us; this they especially like to do in the cases of the vainglorious,

and especially for those who have mastered secular learning, so that by deceiving them little by little, they may lead them into heresies and blasphemies. ^A From the disturbance and the confused yet seductive joy which we feel in the soul at the time of the interpretation, we shall recognize the demonic theology—or rather, the resistance to God—by which divine things are not explained, but opposed.

Some of the things that God made have received an order, a beginning, and an end from their Creator, but virtue has an end that is without end. For, the Psalmist says, "I have seen the end of all perfection; but thy commandment is exceeding broad" (Ps. CXVII, 20). If there are excellent workers who pass from the power of action to the power of contemplation, and "charity never faileth" (1 Cor. XIII, 8), and "the Lord shall preserve thy going in" with fear, "and thy coming out" with charity (Ps. CXX, 8), then surely the end of this charity is without end, in which, as we progress, we shall never cease—not in this present state of life, nor in the age to come, as we forever add a new light of knowledge to our light. Although this may seem paradoxical to many, ^B nevertheless, based on the aforementioned demonstration, blessed Father, I say that I would not even call the intelligent and heavenly—or angelic—natures to be without progress; rather, I maintain that they always add glory to glory, and knowledge to knowledge. Do not be surprised if demons often suggest good thoughts to us and then mentally contradict them; for the aim of our enemies in this is to persuade us that they also know the secret thoughts of our hearts.

Do not be a too bitter censor and judge of those who teach great things in word but perform few in deed; for often the utility of the words compensates for the lack of works. We do not all possess all good things equally; for in some, speech surpasses action, while in others, action surpasses speech. God neither made nor created evil. Some have erred by saying that certain passions are natural to the soul, ^C being ignorant that we have twisted into vice the natural faculties of our nature. For instance, the genital fluid is implanted in us for the procreation of children, but we have translated it into fornication. The power of anger is in us by nature, that we might use it against the serpent, but we use it against our neighbor. Zeal is given to us because of the longing to imitate and emulate the virtues, but we emulate vices and evils instead. By nature we are drawn to the pursuit of glory, but it should be for heavenly glory. We are proud by nature, ^D but it should be against the demons. Similarly, we have joy, but it should be for the Lord and the well-being of our neighbor; we have received the faculty of resentment, but it should be against the enemies of the soul; we have received a desire for food, but it should not be for gluttony.

^A A soul may have stirred up demons against itself, but when wars have been joined, crowns also have been multiplied. He who is not struck by enemies will by no means be crowned. But he who does not lose heart at the slips that happen ^B in battle will be acclaimed by the angels as a warrior. Someone may have lain buried in the earth for three nights and then returned to life forever; he who for three hours has conquered will not die thereafter. If, by a providential discipline, after the Sun has risen within us, it has known its setting and has truly made darkness its hiding place, and night has fallen, then those wild lion cubs that had previously withdrawn—and all the beasts of the forest of thorny passions—will pass over to us, roaring to snatch away the hope within us, and seeking from God of the passions food for themselves, whether through thought or through action. Yet the sun will rise for us again through dark humility, and the beasts will gather to themselves and settle into their dens—that is, into the hearts of those who love pleasure—not in us. Then it will be said among the demons: "The Lord has magnified his mercy in dealing with them again," and we shall say to them: "The Lord has done great things for us; we have become joyful." As for you who are being persecuted, say: "Behold, the Lord sits upon a light cloud"—the soul that has been lifted above all earthly affection—"and he will come into Egypt," that is, into a heart just recently confused by the darkness of temptations, and the idols and man-made images—that is, the thoughts of an impure mind—will be shaken and fall. If Christ, although He is omnipotent, flees from Herod as a man, let the reckless and impulsive learn not to cast themselves rashly into the dangers of temptations. "Do not give," it says, "your foot to be shaken, and the angel who guards you will not slumber." ^C Pridefulness intertwines itself with fortitude, just as the smilax is said to entwine itself with the cypress. Let it be our constant work not to assume with mere empty thought that we possess any virtue or good; rather, let us examine carefully and precisely whether this quality is truly within us. And then we shall surely perceive that we are lacking. Seek also unceasingly for the proofs of your passions, and you will understand that many things reside in you which, while we are in the sickness of these passions, we cannot discern, either because of our weakness or because they have taken very deep roots in us.

God judges our intention. Yet, He kindly requires of us work consistent with our capacity. He is great who leaves nothing of his capacity undone, but he is greater who, in humility, attempts things beyond his capacity. Often the demons [try to hinder us] from the lighter and beneficial... ^D [index: entries preserved]

tasks, and exhort us rather to undertake more grievous ones. I find that Joseph was praised for turning away from sin, not to show off his state of dispassion. We must inquire here in what circumstances and how many sins a turning away from sin earns a crown. It is one thing to turn away from the shadow, and another to run toward the sun. To be in darkness is the cause of stumbling; stumbling is the cause of falling; falling is the cause of death. Those who were darkened by wine have often washed themselves with water; but those darkened by passions have washed themselves with tears. There is a distinction between desire, and reflection, and blindness. The first is healed by abstinence, the second by quietude, and the third by obedience, and by God who became obedient. From these two ways of cleansing those things that are below, we have appropriately inferred by way of examples two others for those who aspire to things above. We have said the religious cenobitic life is like a fuller’s workshop, one which scrapes away and cleanses the filth, the density, and the deformity of the soul. But the dyer’s workshop would be the withdrawal into solitude, suitable for those who have put off and stripped themselves of lasciviousness, the memory of injuries, and anger, and have from there finally moved on to the quiet of silence. Some say that falling back into the same sins often happens due to a lack of repentance that is appropriate and equal to the previous sin. But it must be questioned whether everyone who no longer repeats and commits the same sins has, on the other hand, performed a worthy repentance. Some repeat the same sins, either having buried them in a deep mound of forgetfulness, or because they suppose through some softness that God is merciful, or because they have cast away all hope of their own salvation. I do not know if anyone will not reproach me if I say that for some, this enemy can no longer be bound, because they have been brought into servitude by that same custom of sinning, as if by a tyrant ^C.

It must also be investigated how the soul, since it is by nature without a body, cannot see the spirits of the same nature that visit it, as they do not have a nature that is visible. Perhaps it is because of the bond of the body, which he alone who knit together the body and the soul knows. One of the more learned asked me: “Tell me, I beseech you, tell me who wish to learn, which spirits are wont to depress the mind through sins, and which are wont to lift it up?” And as I was hesitant at this inquiry, and even affirming my ignorance with an oath, he who wished to learn from me taught me. "In a few examples," he said, "I will give you the leaven of discernment, so that you may investigate the rest through your own labor. The spirits of lust, anger, insane gluttony, listlessness, and sleepiness are not wont to lift up the horn of the mind. But the spirits of avarice, ambition, and love of honor, talkativeness, and many others, are wont to knit and accumulate evil with evil, from which the spirit of judging others is familiar to them. Whoever has either gone out toward worldly people or received them as guests, and, upon their departure—whether after an hour or after a day—has received a dart of sorrow, and not rather joy at having been rid of the snares of a hindrance, this person is mocked either by vainglory or by fornication. From where the wind blows before all..."

things, let us inquire, lest we perhaps extend our sails in the wrong direction. ^A Console with charity those seniors who are experienced in action and who have worn down their bodies in asceticism (25), granting them a little rest. Compel the young who have ill-treated their souls in sins to practice self-control by reminding them of the eternal punishments. ^B It is not possible—as we have demonstrated elsewhere—to be immediately, in the very beginning, cleansed of all gluttony and vainglory. Yet let us not wish to fight vainglory through luxury; for defeat in gluttony begets vainglory, I mean for those who are beginners. Rather, let us oppose it through deprivation. For the hour will come, and now is, for those who wish it, that the Lord may bring this also under our feet.

The young and those who have grown old are not fought by the same passions when they approach religion. For often they possess entirely contradictory diseases. For this reason, blessed, thrice-blessed humility is a safe and powerful repentance, both for the young and the old. Do not let yourself be troubled when I say that such occurs. For rare though they be, there are souls upright and guileless, freed from malice and hypocrisy and deceit, to whom all human intercourse is repugnant, who are able, with a guide, to ascend from stillness—as if from a harbor—to heaven, and to remain unharmed and untempted by the tumults and scandals of the cenobitic life. ^C It is natural for men to heal the lustful, for angels to heal the wicked, but for God to heal the proud. A certain form of love has often perhaps consisted in this: in leaving to our neighbor, when he compares his conduct with ours, to act as he wishes in all things, while we show him every cheerfulness (27). One must inquire how, and until what point, and when, and whether indeed repentance is dissolutive of good things, just as it is of bad things. We must use great discernment as to when we ought to stand firm, and in what matters, and until what point we ought to struggle against the material causes of the passions. For there is also a point where, because of our weakness, one chooses to flee, that we might not die. ^D Let us see and observe—for perhaps we may even be able, in due time, to drain the bile through bitterness—which of the demons exalt us, which humble us, which harden us, which console us, which darken us, which again pretend to shed light, which make us sluggish, which deceitful, which gloomy, and which joyful. Let us not be dismayed in the stadium if, at the beginning, we see ourselves to be more prone to passion than during our conduct in the world. For all the underlying causes must needs be stirred up. Only thus can health come to us, even if perhaps the beasts that were hiding were not previously visible. When, by some chance, those who are approaching perfection are defeated by the demons in some small matter, they use every device to quickly snatch from them a hundredfold in return. Just as the winds (28) are wont sometimes to disturb the surface, due to the calm, but sometimes the very depths of the sea; so you must understand it to be with these dark winds. For they are naturally inclined to disturb the feeling of the heart in those who are still subject to passion, but in those who are already advancing, the surface of the mind.

Therefore, these men return more quickly to their own tranquility, which has been sprinkled by no stain of vice. ^A Furthermore, it belongs to the perfect to know always in their soul which thoughts belong to one's own conscience, which to God, and which to the demons. For the demons do not suggest all opposing things from the very beginning. Hence, this whole matter is truly difficult to discern. ^B By the sense of two eyes the body is illuminated; but by intelligent and visible discernment, the eyes of the heart are enlightened.

SCHOLIA ON THE SAME GRADUS

Scholion 1. Of the mixed, that is, of the composite, which is to do a good deed with an evil intent.

Scholion of Isaac 2. When you wish to begin the work of God, first draw up a testament as if you were about to die, or rather as if you were already dead, or as one prepared for death, and who has despaired of life as if the time for living had already passed. And hold this firmly in your mind as a certain fact, lest by the hope of the present life you be hindered in the struggle and in the winning of the victory. For the hope of this life puffs up the mind and empties it. ^C

Scholion 3. That is, in His own good pleasures and wills.

Another. Although this saying was spoken generally by the prophet, it is nevertheless very aptly adopted by the religious father.

Another. It is obscure and shadowed.

Scholion 4. Concerning this, how the will of Jesus must be known and investigated.

Scholion 5. Perfect, not only as humble, but also secure and free from every mishap, inasmuch as it does not rely upon its own strengths out of humility; for this is characteristic of the perfect. ^D

Scholion. Contrary to the will of God. That is, lest it happen. To one attempting what is in our own power, or without the expected divine assistance.

Scholion 6. Observe how, while he mentions upbringing, he at the same time reproves the company of others as a helper of wickedness. Let it not be said that what is placed in the middle is indifferent, as if the nature of places, conversations, and other things of this kind do not matter.

^A Scholion of Theodore of Edessa 7. Wine, as it is written, gladdens the heart of man. But you, since you have undertaken the state of mourning and weeping, by turning away from such merriment, shall be gladdened by spiritual gifts. But if you are gladdened by wine, you will be entangled in many foul thoughts, and will be afflicted by many sorrows.

Scholion 8. By the "obsequy of the law" here, I think the saint means attending to oneself, or seeking one's own things. But the obsequy of the Lord is to take thought for the brother as well, so that he may live rightly.

Scholion 9. Demons tempt us either by themselves, or they arm against us those who do not fear the Lord; by themselves, when we are alone, just as they did to the Lord in the desert; by men, when we live among them, just as they did to the Lord through the Pharisees. But let us look to our exemplar, and repel them from both directions.

Scholion 10. Scripture calls the virtues "ways." But greater than all the virtues is charity; therefore the Apostle said: "And I show you a still more excellent way," that he might persuade us that all human and corporeal things are to be despised, and that nothing temporal is to be preferred to future and eternal things.

^C Scholion 11. The forms of examples, as he said above, mean that we must sometimes simulate the passions, that we may escape the enemy's defeat, being secure in those things which we simulate, while he, the enemy, is deceived and ignorant.

Scholion 12. Abbas Serapion says: "There is one who in sinister and suspicious matters works out his life in the wisdom of God; and there is one who, in committing sin, acts as if he were in the sight of God."

Scholion 13. Minor defects, or the lighter faults of those who observe and guard themselves, are guardians of justice.

Another. It behooves him who simulates a vicious person to be extremely sober, lest, simulating a passion, he be truly caught by it in reality.

Theodore of Edessa 14. Every human soul is tripartite. The virtue constituted in the rational part they have called prudence, discernment, and wisdom; that in the irascible faculty, fortitude and patience; that in the desiring faculty, charity, temperance, and continence. Justice, however, is sprinkled over all these, acting as an arranger to make them act appropriately: through prudence, indeed, it fights against the opposing powers and battles for the virtues; through temperance, it views things without a vicious affect; through charity,

[...clarity,] persuading all mortals to love as herself; by continence she cuts off all pleasure; by fortitude and patience she arms herself against the invisible ^A enemies.

Scholion 15. Pacific is he who reconciles another to peace. But no one can bestow upon another what he does not possess himself; so he is truly pacific who brings the state of his own body and spirit—the domestic enemy of the flesh—into a peaceful harmony, so that the flesh no longer lusts against the spirit but the grace of the Spirit rules over the passions of the body, and the law of the body no longer rebels against the law of the mind, but being subjected to the better authority, serves the divine commands. For when the middle wall ^B of malice that fences us within is removed, the two coalesce into one by a better mixture.

Scholion 16. Do not contract a friendship with those men about whom your conscience fears that others might know, so that you do not give scandal in knowledge.

Another. To those for whom friendship is a cause of ruin, for them hatred becomes an argument and matter of virtue.

Another. Having entered upon a journey with religious brothers, if you find among them someone whom you love sincerely for God's sake, do not treat him with too much freedom and outward effusion while the others are watching, lest some imperfect person be found among them and die from envy, and you carry the burden of his sin, because you gave him the occasion to sin.

Scholion of Diadochus 17. The light of true knowledge is to distinguish without error or offense the good from the evil. For then the way of justice leads the mind to God, the author of justice, and brings it into the infinite light of knowledge, so that it may henceforth seek charity ^C with confidence and great freedom. Therefore, what is just must be seized without perturbation of an angry mind from those who have dared to heap insults upon you. For the love and ardor of piety do not manifest contention by pursuing with hatred, but by refuting.

Scholion 18. He calls charity the goal or limit, having bestowed upon it the name that contains both the beginning and the end.

Scholion of Isaac 19. But if the passions were rooted in the soul by nature, why was it harmed by them? Affections of nature do not harm nature.

Scholion 20. Symptomatic ^D or sudden occurrences that happen from time to time are subreptions or distractions and thefts.

^A And actions that are untimely because of some related cause. Similarly, untimely words, and works, and studies, and whatsoever are committed through rashness (without deliberation).

Scholion 21. Three things, said one of the Fathers, do I fear: my departure from this life, and how I shall appear before God, and among whom I shall be numbered at the judgment.

Scholion aliud. Some interpret the "three hours" as the three ages of man—namely youth, middle age, and old age. Another interprets them as pleasure, vain glory, and avarice; another, as the three temptations and onsets or assaults of the demon; another, as sloth, as also elsewhere, the fluctuation of three hours.

Scholion 22. For indeed, demons are called to question and examination for our destruction, either because they have associated with us and plundered our belongings, or, as in the case of Job, have wounded us. But because of our negligence, we are delivered up, being abandoned by God for the sake of our instruction.

Scholion of Chrysostom 23. One should neither flee from struggles nor rashly rush into them. For so the victory will be more illustrious for us, and the defeat of the demon more worthy of ridicule, when, having been compelled and dragged into the fight, we have stood our ground generously, and have not been quiet when provoked, but have awaited the time of fighting, that we might exhibit both the flight from vain glory and constancy in combat. ^B

Scholion 24. Those who have purposed (to carry out what is pleasing to God) will have the same reward as those who were able to carry it out, since their resolve was equal to theirs, even if others were superior in the power of fulfillment.

Scholion 25. It must be known that commandments are given according to the measure and proportion of one's strength; and he has spoken of some doing what is commanded, while others, out of superabundant charity, dare to do something beyond their strength. Hence the Father established a comparison between works done according to strength and those done beyond strength.

Scholion. After the hour or the day (he speaks of colloquy with an outsider and his departure), without an sign, if one is towards worldlings—

Scholion 26. If anyone urges an infirm body toward things that exceed its strength, he adds darkness to darkness, and wraps the soul in it, and brings upon it greater confusion; but if you give over a strong body to rest and idleness, it will perform every wickedness in the soul dwelling in ^C it.

And if anyone should desire the good, but after a little while he takes away from him even the very thought of the good which he had.

Another. Those who are practiced in asceticism are to be comforted or refreshed with food, but the young are rather to be compelled to abstinence through exhortations. For idle relaxation is destruction of the soul, and is accustomed to harm more than the demons themselves.

Scholion 27. When someone turns his counsels for the better, then repentance does not abolish good things, but increases them. For then repentance, or a change of mind, dissolves good things when repentance leads to worse actions.

Scholion. On the thoughts of malice.

Scholion 28. ^B Just as storms of wind stirring up the sea often cause those who are sailing to be in danger of shipwreck, so also the dark spirits of malice, by stirring up our passions through thoughts, disturb the ruling mind and sometimes plunge it into the abyss of destruction.

A brief enumeration of the higher degrees by summary.

(Under the same heading.) Firma fides est abrenuntiationis parens — A firm faith is the parent of renunciation; and its opposite is manifest. Spes indeclinabilis est janua ad exuendos omnes affectus minus rectos — Unwavering hope is the door to divesting oneself of all less-than-right passions. What is contrary to this is evident. Charitas Dei est fugæ mundi causa — Charity toward God is the cause of flight from the world. What likewise is opposed to this is not unknown. Subjectionem procreavit sui ipsius condemnatio et sanitatis desiderium — Self-condemnation and the desire for health have brought forth subjection. Abstinentia est mater sanitatis; abstinentiæ, meditatio mortis, et fixa memoria fellis et aceti Domini Dei — Abstinence is the mother of health; of abstinence, the meditation on death, and the firm memory of the gall and vinegar of the Lord God. Temperantiæ seu pudicitiæ adjutrix et causa est solitudo et quies, Ardoris exstinctio in corpore, jejunium — A helper and cause of temperance or chastity is solitude and quiet, the extinction of ardor in the body, and fasting.

^D Cogitationum malarum et turpium hostis est animæ contritio — The enemy of evil and shameful thoughts is the contrition of the soul. Fides et fuga sæculi mors avaritiæ — Faith and flight from the world are the death of avarice. Commiseratio et charitas prodiderunt corpus — Commiseration and charity have yielded the body. Oratio continua exitium est acediæ — Constant prayer is the destruction of acedia. Memoria judicii alacritatis est conciliatrix — Memory of the judgment is the reconciler of alacrity. Iræ curatio, ignominiæ desiderium; laudes hymnorum, et misericordia et paupertas suffocant tristitiam — The cure for anger is the desire for ignominy; the praise of hymns, and mercy and poverty, stifle sadness. Liber animus ab omni sensuum affectu, contemplatio est rerum cœlestium quæ mente percipiuntur — A mind free from every affection of the senses is the contemplation of heavenly things which are perceived by the mind.

^A Silence and quiet are enemies of vainglory. If you find yourself in their midst, embrace ignominy. A sad demeanor or state will heal outward pride; but for inward pride, He who is before the ages and cannot be looked upon (namely, God) will heal it. The deer destroys the venom of all beasts that affect the senses; humility consumes the venom of all harmful thoughts. Through all things that fall into our eyes from created things, we can know and learn those things which are in the mind. 393 Just as it is impossible for a serpent to shed its old skin unless it passes through a narrow hole, so we shall not abandon our inveterate evil habits, nor the oldness of the soul, nor strip off the tunic of the old man, unless we pass through the narrow way of fasting ^B and the afflicted way of contempt and ignominy. As birds that are too fleshy cannot fly higher into the heavens, so it is with him who treats and nourishes his body too delicately. Mud that has been hardened and dried by the sun no longer admits or nurtures swine; so, too, flesh that has withered leaves no place of rest for demons. As a large quantity of green wood often stifles a flame and extinguishes it, stirring up immense smoke, so often an excessive and heavy sadness makes the soul smoky and dark, and dries up the fountain of tears. Just as a blind archer is not approved, so a contumacious and argumentative disciple perishes. ^C As iron that is sound can sharpen that which is unsound or rusty, so a ready and religious brother often saves one who is hesitating and slothful. As eggs warmed in the bosom conceive their young, so thoughts that are not brought to light emerge into deeds. As running horses compete with one another, so a good company incites itself to virtue. As clouds hide the sun, so evil thoughts cast darkness upon the mind and destroy it. As one who has received his sentence and is walking toward his execution does not talk about theatrical spectacles, so he who truly mourns over his sins from the heart will never study to satisfy his gluttony and belly. ^D Just as poor men, when they behold royal treasuries, recognize their own poverty all the more, so the soul, reading of the great virtues of the Fathers, is rendered altogether more humble and suppresses its pride. Just as iron, even if it does not wish to, obeys the magnet, so those corrupted by depraved habits are dragged by them to sin by force. As oil, even against its will, calms the sea, so fasting extinguishes the stubborn passions of the body. As water confined in a narrow space rises on high, so often the soul, when hemmed in by perils,

^A rises toward God through repentance and is saved.

As one who carries perfumes, even against his will, is betrayed by the fragrance, so too he who possesses the Spirit of the Lord is recognized by his words and his humility.

As winds disturb the abyss, so anger, more than all else, disturbs the mind.

As the eye does not strongly desire to taste what it has not seen, nor hear about, so those who are chaste in body possess great relief from this.

As thieves, when they see royal arms stored in a place, do not easily ascend thither, so he who has prayer intimate to his heart is not easily robbed by the intellectual thieves.

As fire does not beget snow, so he who seeks honor here will not enjoy it there [in heaven]. ^B

As one spark often consumes a vast forest, so one good work often obliterates a multitude of great offenses.

As it is impossible to destroy wild beasts without a weapon, so it is impossible to acquire freedom from anger without humility.

As it is impossible to live naturally without food, so it is impossible even for a moment to be negligent until the hour of death.

As a sunbeam admitted through a hole illuminates the whole house, so that even the smallest atoms or specks of dust are seen, so the fear of the Lord, when it has fixed its seat in the heart, shows a man all his own stains and sins.

As the so-called crabs are easily caught, because they move now forward, now backward, so the soul, being now relaxed in laughter, now composed for mourning, now immersed in luxuries, cannot obtain any profit from its labors. ^C

As those who are asleep are easily plundered, so too are those who live according to the world or near to it, while striving after virtue (they are exposed to thieves).

As he who fights with a lion, if he but once turns his eyes elsewhere, immediately perishes, so he who struggles with his own flesh perishes if he grants it a truce.

As those who ascend a rotting ladder are in danger of their lives, so every dignity, and glory, and power, or authority, is contrary to humility. ^D

As it is impossible for a hungry man not to remember bread, so it is impossible for the man who does not think of his departure and the judgment to be saved.

As water [erases] letters, so the tear is able to blot out offenses.

As we are accustomed to erase letters by other means when we lack water, so there are souls who, destitute of tears, scrape away and erase their sins through mourning, and groans, and great sadness.

As a great deal of dung produces a great store of worms, so a great deal of food produces a multitude of sins, foul thoughts, and dreams.

^A Just as one fettered in his feet cannot walk easily, so those who hoard up riches cannot ascend into heaven.

As a fresh wound is easily cured, so, conversely, the long-standing wounds of the soul are healed with difficulty, even when they are healed.

As one who is dead can in no way walk, so one who despairs cannot be saved.

He who claims to possess the right faith, but meanwhile does not cease to sin, is like a face that lacks eyes.

He who does not believe, and yet perhaps does some good works, is like one who draws water and pours it into a leaking cistern.

^B As a ship that has a good pilot or captain, by God’s help, enters the harbor without danger; so too a soul that has a good shepherd ascends to heaven easily, even if it has previously committed many evils.

As one who lacks a guide for the road easily wanders from the path, however prudent he may otherwise be; so too he who walks the monastic path by his own will easily perishes, even if he is well-versed in all the profane wisdom of the world.

When someone is sick in body and has committed grievous faults, let him tread the path of humility and of its characteristics; for he will find no other way of salvation.

As it is not possible for one who has suffered from a long-standing disease to recover health in a moment, so it is not possible to suddenly strip off and conquer vicious affections or an affection.

Observe what the measure of every vice and every virtue is, and you will recognize your own progress from that.

As those who exchange gold for mud suffer loss; so too do those who, for the sake of bodily things, make a spectacle of and recount spiritual things.

Many have quickly obtained forgiveness of sins, but no one has attained to the height of stillness of soul suddenly; for this requires time, much labor [desire], and the singular help of God.

^D Let us diligently observe which wild beasts and birds lie in wait for us in the seed, which in the blade, and which finally in the harvest, so that we in turn may set snares and traps for them.

As it is not right for one suffering from a fever to lay violent hands upon himself, so one should never despair until the very last breath.

As it is unseemly for one who has just buried his own father, having returned from the funeral, to go off to a wedding; so it is improper for those who mourn for their faults to seek honors or relaxation or glory among men in the present life.

As the dwellings of citizens are one thing, and the dwellings of the condemned and those under sentence are another; so, in every respect, it is fitting that...

^A the status of those who mourn their sins be different from that of those who have lived an innocent life. Just as a king does not command a soldier who has received grievous wounds in his face in battle to lay down his arms and be discharged from the service, but rather urges him to forge ahead ^B and engage the enemy; so too does the heavenly King crown the religious man after he has endured many perils with the demons.

Sense is a property of the soul; sin is a repercussion of sense, or a blow struck. Sense begets either the cessation or the reduction of evil; communal sense [conscience] is the product of conscience. For conscience is the word and scrutiny of our guardian given to us in baptism. Hence it is that we find that those not enlightened by baptism are not so greatly troubled in their own souls by their evil deeds, but only in a Dim way.

The reduction of evil produces abstinence from evil; abstinence from evil is the beginning of repentance, and repentance is the beginning of salvation, and the beginning of salvation is a good intention. A good intention is the creator of toils; the beginning of toils are the virtues; the beginning of the virtues is their blossom; the blossom of virtue is its labor; the offspring of virtue is assiduity; the fruit and produce of assiduous practice is the habit; the progeny of the habit is a certain modification of the soul, which is the parent of the holy fear of the Lord.

Fear produces the keeping of the commandments, I mean both the heavenly and the earthly; the keeping of the commandments is the token of love, and the beginning of love is an abundance of humility. An abundance of humility is the daughter of detachment; the possession of this is the fullness of love, or rather the perfect indwelling of God in those who are pure in heart through detachment, for they shall see God; to Him be the glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.

SCHOLIA. On the enumeration and summary of the above steps.

^D Scholion 1. A sign that the mind is occupied with intelligible things is the despising of all that can stir the senses.

Another. Life in God is the death of the senses. But when the heart lives, the senses fall away.

Another. The resurrection of the senses is the death of the heart. And when they revive, it is a sign that the heart has departed from God through the death of sin.

Scholion. For he who has renounced all earthly goods has nothing by whose loss he might be disturbed.

^A *Scholion.* Of men, clearly.

*Scholion.* For the deer naturally has a war with crawling things and serpents.

*Scholion 2.* Want and straitness, when accepted with reason and right judgment, are the royal road; so that vexation [bodily affliction] performed without judgment, and an agreement made without reason, are useless, as being things deprived of reason on both sides.

*Scholion 3.* It is shameful when slaves of the flesh and the belly dispute subtly about spiritual things, just as it is for the licentious to speak about temperance. For in a belly that is full, there is no knowledge of the mysteries of God.

^B *Scholion of Barsanuphius 4.* Contradiction has destroyed many people, as it did those around Dathan and Abiron who opposed Moses; and this is an evil sign. For if someone does not reverence his own abbot, whom will he ever reverence? And not to reverence anyone is a sign of an impure mindset; and this impurity of counsel is of the devil, and those who do the same become his children; and what becomes of them? Such men have banished themselves from humility into exile; and David says: "Deliver me from the contradiction of the people."

*Scholion of Photius 5.* ^C Evil thoughts, fostered and hidden in the bosom, produce much putrefaction and corruption, and a sore that is nearly incurable. But when they are uncovered to those who have the knowledge and wisdom to cure such things, they are not difficult to heal.

*Scholion 6.* Question. What is repentance? Answer. A contrite heart.

*Scholion 7.* Words are like mirrors; for just as the form of the body’s shape appears in them, so too in conversation, the character of the soul is seen as it is depicted.

*Scholion 8.* ^D That as many of us as are in this world, and encompassed by the flesh, even if we were to be raised up to the vault of heaven, we cannot be without toil and labor and care.

*Scholion 9.* Faith without works, and works without faith, will be rejected in the same way. For it is necessary for the faithful to offer to the Lord a faith proven by deeds. For faith would not have been accounted for righteousness to our father Abraham, if he had not brought its fruit, his son [to be sacrificed].

*Scholion of Isaiah 10.* If a man does everything, but does not possess obedience and humility, he turns aside from what is according to nature.

^A *Scholion.* To the beginning of renunciation, to the middle, and to the perfection. *Scholion 11.* By "dangers" he means temptations, such as the noises of imaginations, and blows. *Another.* How is it to be understood that he who endures dangers is crowned, or rather, he who does not yield to the allurements of dangers, but perseveres in the tolerance of evils and does not betray the virtues? *Scholion 12.* Spiritual sense is so affected that it can receive the power of contemplation, just as the pupil of the bodily eyes, which contains within itself the light that falls under the senses. *Scholion 13.* The good can in no way be grasped or attained, unless one first completely desists from evil and rejects it; just as no one can recover health unless he is first freed from disease. *Another.* "Turn aside from evil and do good." (Ps. XXXVI, 27). This is to fight against the enemies, so that you may diminish the vicious desires. Then be sober, so that they do not increase; again strive so that you may acquire the virtues; and afterward be sober, that you may guard them. And this would be "to work good." *Scholion of Isaac 14.* Fear is a spiritual rod that guides us until we reach the paradise of spiritual goods; and when we are there, it releases us and departs.

STEP XXVII

^C We, having been made, as it were, purchased slaves to the unholy passions and vices, have learned somewhat from this very fact of the wicked ways, manners, commands, and deceits of the spirits that tyrannize over our wretched souls. For there are others who, having been enlightened by the power of the Holy Spirit, have perceived the devices of those wicked ones from which they have already been delivered. For one person, from the pain of sickness which he felt as a sick man, conjectures the quiet of health; but another, from the joy of health, perceives the trouble of sickness and infers it. And hence it is that we, as sick and weak, fear to speak among you and to philosophize about the haven of solitary quiet, since we are not ignorant that there is always some dog standing by the table of goodly fellowship and the heavenly meal, who attempts to snatch the bread (that is, the soul) from it, which, carrying in its mouth, he subsequently flees to hide and devour in secret. Therefore, lest we...

^A give to such a dog, and to those seeking an occasion for our argument, we deemed it wrong to discuss peace now with those who are valiant combatants in the war of our Emperor. Yet we maintain this much: that for those who fight and contend bravely in battle, the same crowns and prizes are reserved as for those who dwell in the peace and tranquility of solitude. Therefore, let us say a few things, as if by way of a rule of discernment, if it seems good, lest by passing over this place and subject we leave it as something untried and cast some into sorrow and sadness thereby.

On Silence and Solitude

^B Quiescence of the body is the knowledge and regulation of habits and senses; quiescence of the soul is the knowledge of thoughts and an unassailable state of mind. The friend of silence is a certain brave and sharp thought, which stands sleeplessly at the doors of the heart, and either kills or drives away those thoughts that approach. He who rests in the awareness of the heart understands what has already been said. But the infant, or the novice, because he has never tasted this, remains ignorant of what it is. A prudent observer of silence needs few words; for he interprets and illustrates words by his very deeds. The beginning of silence is to cast off noise, as it disturbs the deep; its end, however, is to fear no tumults anymore, but to persist unmoved and insensible amidst them. He who progresses and does not speak is gentle, and a full dwelling-place of love. He who is slowly moved to speech cannot be moved to anger at all. The contraries are clear. A solitary, or one studious of solitude, is he who endeavors to circumscribe and enclose the incorporeal nature within the dwelling of his body (which is truly a paradox and rare). The ^C hunting cat of this [solitude] stalks a mouse; but the intent mind and thought of the solitary stalks a spiritual mouse (or demon). Let not the example I have mentioned seem contemptible to you; or else you do not know what the solitary life is. A solitary monk is not like a coenobitic monk, where one lives with another. The solitary has need of much fasting and much constancy of mind. To the former (the coenobite) another often brings help; but to the latter, the solitary, an angel brings assistance. Angelic powers willingly dwell with the solitary, acting and ministering. What I say to you is not the opposite. The depth of dogmas is vast and profound, into which the mind of the solitary does not cast itself without danger. He who is wrapped in his garments swims not without risk, nor does he who is prone to vices grasp divine mysteries and the arcana of theology. The cell of the solitary contains the body, and has within it a dwelling for thought. He who suffers from diseases of the soul, and yet dares to undertake the solitary life, acts just like one who leaps from a ship into the waves on the high seas, and thinks he will reach port safely on a plank. For those who struggle with the mud of the body and flesh, the solitary life is suitable in its own time, if they have the religious life.

^A And fire with fire, and love with love, and desire for desire they beget. A hesychast is an earthly form of an angel, who by the writing of desire and the letters of diligence has freed his own prayer from sloth and negligence. A hesychast is he who has cried out clearly: "My heart is ready, O God." A hesychast is he who has said: "I sleep, but my heart waketh." Shut the door of your cell to your body, the door of your tongue to speech, and the inner gate to evil spirits. Serenities and the midday sun prove the patience of a sailor; but the lack of necessities reveals the endurance of the hesychast. The one who is despondent drowns in the waters; he who is overcome by sloth is entangled in the multitude. Do not fear the illusions of blows; for one who mourns does not know fear, nor is he terrified. Those who have truly learned to pray, these speak face to face with the Lord, as to the ear of the king. Those who pray only with their mouth, these fall at his knees as if before the entire senate. Those who live in the world, these in the midst of the noise of all the people supplicate the king. If you have learned the art expertly, you are not ignorant of what is said. Sitting in a high watchtower, watch—if indeed you know how—and then you will see how, and when, and whence, and how many, and what kind of thieves are creeping in to steal the clusters. When the scout is exhausted, he rises and prays, and then sitting down again, he goes about his former work bravely.

^B Someone who had experience and practice in these matters wished to speak about them more subtly and accurately; but he was afraid, lest he make the strenuous athletes more sluggish, and deter those who are running eagerly with the noise of words. He who discourses subtly and learnedly about hesychia stirs up demons against himself; for no one else is able to bring the shameful tricks of these to light so clearly. The follower of quietude penetrates the depths of divine mysteries, to which he does not aspire unless he has first seen and heard the tumult of the waves and the state and whirlwinds of the demons, and perhaps even been sprinkled by them. Paul confirms this by his own authority, for had he not been snatched into paradise as into hesychia, he could never have heard the ineffable words. The ear placed in solitude will receive extraordinary things from God. Therefore, this most wise quietude also said in Job: "Shall not my ear receive extraordinary things from Him?" A hesychast is one who thus flees from all (without hatred, however), just as another runs easily to all. What the hesychast does, he does so that he might not suffer the loss of divine sweetness. ^C When you are about to depart, scatter all your wealth quickly; for that saying, "Sell what you have, and give to the poor," brings them to hesychia by way of prayer; take up the cross, and through obedience, bear it. ^D

And by strongly enduring the burden of the cutting off of your own will, come then, follow me to the communion and fellowship of the most blessed hesychia, and I will teach you the visible activity and conduct of the intellectual powers. They shall not be sated for ever and ever, praising the Creator, nor shall he who has entered into the hesychia of heaven, hymning the Maker. Those who are immaterial will not be concerned about matter, nor the material ones who have become immaterial about food. The former will not be conscious of eating, nor will the latter have need of sustenance. The former will not be concerned about coins and possessions, nor the latter about the harassment of spirits. There is no desire for visible creation present to those above, nor for those below, who are above, a desire for sensible sight. Those will never cease advancing in love, nor will these cease from competing daily with them. The wealth of progress is not unknown to those, nor to these the eros of ascent; they shall not pause until they reach the Seraphim, ^B nor shall they grow weary until they become angels. Blessed is he who hopes; three times blessed is he who shall become an angel, having attained it.

SCHOLIA TO THE TWENTY-SEVENTH STEP.

On Holy Hesychia.

Scholion 1.

Scholion of Isaiah 2.

Scholion.

Scholion 3.

as it is to have another with one; for they are saved by encouraging one another. But that of the completely alone is very fearful, as is also that of the one who is not alone at all. ^A

Scholion 4. The contrary is true, because evil spirits surround the talkative and garrulous man who, though enclosed in body, is there in vain and rashly.

Scholion 5. It is dangerous for a solitary to be occupied with the dogmas of the faith.

Scholion 6. For this reason, fasting, vigils, sleeping on the ground, prayers, standing, thirst, labor, and the things that follow come together.

Scholion 7. Loving the conveniences of the world causes the soul to be darkened, but looking past them in all things brings knowledge. ^B

Evagrius 8. Solitude and stillness are not to be abandoned in times of temptation, whatever good pretext the mind or the devil may fabricate for you to do so; but one must sit inside, endure, and receive with nobility all those who assault, especially the spirit of acedia, which, being more burdensome than all, makes the soul most approved when it is conquered. But to flee such struggles and to turn away teaches the mind to be unskillful, cowardly, and a runaway.

Scholion 9. ^C This is: "this or that," meaning "shall he receive or shall he not receive?" For the word "whether" signifies "this or that."

Scholion 10. Give to the pious, and do not help the sinner; do good to the humble, and do not give to the ungodly.

Scholion Isaac 11. Do not understand it as if you ought to drive yourself onto a cross and hang yourself to follow Christ; but crucify yourself by extricating yourself from worldly affairs, so as to touch them no more. And always crucify your mind within your soul, so that you are not negligent of your salvation. You must not receive wicked thoughts, but must know how to discern them, knowing that they have come from the devil. For the mind must be freed from every care or distraction, lest it be troubled by them. For unless you are freed, you pray in vain. For the mind wanders and is occupied by those cares; even if you pray, your prayer does not ascend to God. ^D For unless you offer a prayer that is pure and full of faith, it is not received by God.

Scholion 12. "Striving," that is, emulating, signifies those running together, or competing in a race, contending, struggling against those who fight for heavenly glory.

On the difference and distinction of solitudes.

^A It is known to all that in every state of the sciences there are differences of opinions and volitions. For not everything is perfect in everyone, partly because some lack zeal and diligence, and partly because of their capacity and natural talent. There are those who enter this port—or rather, this sea or ocean—because of the incontinence of their tongue and the inveterate vices of body and flesh. There are those who, unable to restrain their anger among many, are carried headlong into it; these are truly wretched. There are those who, out of pride of heart, prefer to set their own course rather than sail under the guidance and instruction of another. Others, because in the current abundance of bodies and material things they cannot abstain, enter solitude so that they might become more diligent; others, so that in secret they may punish themselves with stripes for their faults and wrongs; others, so that they may acquire glory for themselves through it. Finally, there are others—if indeed the Son of Man, when He comes, will find any such on earth—who, on account of the delights of heaven and a thirst for the love and sweetness of God, have bound themselves to this most holy quiet as to a spouse, which they did not do before they had given a bill of divorce to sloth and acedia. For its union with the former—I mean acedia—is considered fornication. I, as an unwise architect, have constructed this ladder of ascent according to the meager knowledge given to me. Let each one see for himself on which rung he stands: whether he lives according to his own will, or for the sake of glory expected from men, or because of the incontinence of his tongue, or on account of an irascible temper, or an abundance of evil passions, or to pay for faults, or to become more diligent, or to add fire to fire (through love/charity). The last shall be first, and the first last (Matt. XIX, 30). Of these, seven are the operations of this present week of life, some pleasing to God, others displeasing; the eighth, without doubt, is the index of the age to come. ^B Observe, O monk, you who dwell alone, the times of the wild beasts. For if you do not do this, you will not be able to set suitable snares for them. If the sloth that accepted the bill of divorce has completely departed, there will be no need for much labor. If it still importunately thrusts itself forward, I do not see how one can maintain solitude. Why is it that there were not so many lights of holiness among the holy Tabennesiotes as there have been among the Scetiotes? He who understands, let him understand; for I cannot, or rather, I will not, pronounce the reason. ^C Among those who dwell in this deep of solitude (as in a sea), some slowly diminish their vicious passions; others put a great deal of time and study into psalmody and prayer; others give themselves to contemplation. This problem must be investigated according to the purpose of the Ladder: he who can understand, let him understand in the Lord.

There are in cenobies some sluggish and slothful souls who, having seized upon the materials of their own laziness, have rushed headlong into ^D ultimate ruin. And there are others who, by the companionship and proximity of others, [seek to overcome] their own slothfulness...

Nor does this happen to the negligent only, but often to the studious as well. Let us use the same standard for the solitary life, saying that it has accepted many who seemed fit, only to cast them off later, convicting them of being lovers of pleasure through their living according to their own will; but others it has taken, and through fear and the care of bearing the burden—that is, the judgment of their own actions—it has made them concerned and zealous for divine things. Let no one who is subject to anger and pride, and to the simulation or hypocrisy of recalling injuries, dare to set foot in solitude, lest they incur a state of spiritual stupor, and carry away that alone as the fruit of their solitude. If anyone has been cleansed of these, he will then understand what is expedient for him, although even he, I think, will not perfectly attain it. ^B The signs, the exercises, and the proofs of those who follow solitude not without reason are these: a mind undisturbed by the waves of passions, pure thoughts, being caught up toward the Lord, the constant presence of the memory of eternal punishments, the consideration of impending death, an insatiable zeal for prayer, an impregnable custody of oneself, the extinction of lust, not knowing desire, death to the world, lack of craving for food, material for knowing the things of God, a fountain of discernment, the gift of tears, the destruction of idle talk, and whatever else of this kind there may be, things to which the masses are wont to be opposed. But for those who do not follow this life with reason, the signs are these: the poverty of divine gifts, the increase of anger, the stored-up memory of injuries sustained, the failure of charity, the taking on of pride, and the rest, which I will pass over in silence. Since the discourse has run thus far, it is necessary to proceed to discuss here those who live under obedience, especially since our discourse pertains most of all to them.

^C The proofs and signs of those who have lawfully, chastely, and purely pledged and joined themselves to this elegant and most seemly virtue of subjection are defined by the holy and God-filled Fathers (though each is to be perfected in its own time, except that we increase them daily and make progress in them more and more). When humility is begun, it is always increased; anger cools down (for how could it not, when bile and gall are thoroughly emptied out?); the darkness of the mind gradually vanishes, charity increases, vicious affections are put off and amended, and hatred leaves the heart. Lasciviousness is diminished through constant reprimands, no place is left for sloth, diligence grows, the affection of compassion shows charity, and pride is proscribed. This kind of virtue is, indeed, to be sought and pursued by all, though it is found by few. A fountain devoid of water keeps the name of a fountain in vain; the prudent easily understand what follows from this. A damsel who has strayed from her bed has defiled her body. A soul who has violated the contract of her vow has defiled her spirit; and for the former there follow reproach, hatred, scourges, ^D and that which is the most mournful of all: divorce. But for this one—the soul, I mean—there follow defilings, the oblivion of death, an insatiable gluttony of the belly, the incontinence of the eyes, the practice of vainglory, an insatiable desire for sleep, hardness of heart, insensibility, a storehouse of thoughts and the addition of consent, the captivity of the heart, the practice of trouble, disobedience, contradiction, desire, unbelief, lack of assurance, idle talk, boldness—which is more grievous than all—and something more miserable than all: an uncontrite heart, which is succeeded in those who do not...

attend, by a stupor of the senses or insensibility, which is the parent and cause of every fall.

^A Of the eight principal vices and their spirits, five ^B especially attack those who live in solitude, while three attack those who live in obedience. The solitary, when struggling against ^C acedia or sloth, is often harmed; for he consumes the time that should be devoted to prayer and contemplation in the midst of his fight and struggle against acedia. Once, when I was sitting in my cell and laboring under listlessness, and was already at the point of resolving to abandon the cell, it happened most opportunely that some visitors arrived and called me blessed on account of this solitary life, and suddenly the thought of sloth was driven away by vainglory, with me greatly marveling that this bramble—the demon of vainglory—should be opposed to all spirits. Observe at every hour the movements, the suggestions, the impulses, and the inclinations of your companion or fellow-dweller, and how they behave, and in what direction they verge. He who has attained tranquility of soul through the Holy Spirit does not ignore this theorem or consideration. The primary endeavor of the quiet life of solitude is for the practitioner of solitude to be free from all cares that precede affairs—whether they be of reason or not. (For he who gives entry to the former will inevitably be entangled in the latter, and will altogether fall.) The second work is diligent prayer: the third, the inviolable activity of the heart. It cannot come about by nature for one unlearned in letters to exercise himself in books; but it is much less possible for those who do not possess the first, to acquire the two others through reasoning. Having arrived at the middle, I stood in the midst; and [an angel] was illuminating one who was thirsting. And behold, I was again among them, and when I asked what that form, visible on him (Christ), had been before, he was not able to teach me, nor was that prince (I mean the angel) permitted to do so. Then I asked him to say how it then was [and possessed]. "In its own," he said, "but not in these." Then I: "What is and what is the nature of that station and seat at the right hand of Christ, the Author?" "This," he said, "cannot be taught to the human ear." I asked, therefore, that he might lead me by an opportunity to that to which desire was drawing me. "Not yet," he said, "has the hour come, on account of the lack of the fire of incorruption." Whether these things happened in the body or out of the body, I neither know, nor can I say at all. It is difficult to shake off the midday sleep, especially in the summer hours; for then, and perhaps then only, should some work be done with the hands. I have known the spirit of acedia to go before and prepare the way for the spirit of fornication, so that it might powerfully drag the body and drench it in sleep, and, as if in a dream, pollute those who are resting. But if one has struggled sharply and bravely against these...

^A attacks, it will appear all the more that they have been defeated by us. When you go out into public, keep yourself guarded; for when the door is open, the caged birds fly away, and whatever might have been gained in solitude is lost. A small mote irritates and disturbs the eye, and a minor care destroys peace. For peace is the casting off of thoughts and the renunciation of human cares, even the just ones. Whoever has embraced the solitary life from the heart will not even take care of his own body; for He who promised to care for us does not know how to lie. He who desires to present a pure mind to God while yet being bound up in cares is like someone who has tied his own feet firmly in shackles and yet tries to walk quickly. Rare are those who have excelled in the study of secular wisdom and philosophy and have attained its pinnacle; but I consider those fewer still who have thoroughly understood the true philosophy of the solitary life. He who does not yet know God is unfit for silence, and exposes himself to many dangers. Solitude stifles the inexperienced, for they do not taste the delights of heavenly consolations, and they waste their time in captivity, in the thefts of distractions, in sorrow, sloth, and spiritual exhaustion. But he who has attained the grace of prayer flees the crowds of men just as a wild ass. For who, except for this (prayer), has set the wild ass free from all human society? He who is occupied with vicious passions spends all the time of his solitary life turning them over and practicing them; and my holy father, George—the Arsilaiton, I mean, whom your Honor also does not entirely ignore—this man once explained and taught me, when he was instructing and guiding my useless soul for the solitary way of life.

In the morning, he said, I have noticed that the demons of vainglory and lust are wont to make their attack upon us; at midday, those of ^B sloth, sorrow, and anger; and in the evening, the master and tyrant of the belly and of its refuse. Better is a poor man who obeys another than a solitary distracted by vain thoughts. He who has entered the solitary life guided by right reason, and does not note progress or fruit in virtues daily, either is not pursuing that way of life with reason, or is being deceived by pride. The solitary life is to stand before God perpetually through an indissoluble service. Let the memory of Jesus be united to your breath, and then you will know the profit of silence. For an obedient man, a fall is his own will; for a solitary, it is the intermission of prayer. If you rejoice in the frequency of guests in your cell, know that you are working not for God, but only for sloth. Let the widowed woman in the Gospel, wronged by her adversary, be your model for prayer; and let the great and angelic solitary, Arsenius, be the model for your solitary life. Remember in your solitude the conduct of this angelic solitary, and notice how, not infrequently, he sent away those who visited him, so that he might not lose what was better and greater. ^C I have observed that demons often incite the aimless solitary—those who have no counsel—to behave like the senseless among the beasts, so that they may be able to hinder the workers, even if only a little, through them. Mark such persons, my friend, and do not refuse to grieve them.

They have entered into the likeness of those who are truly and righteously anchorites, so that they might stir them up to approach them often, so that the pugilists of Christ might be hindered by these wanderers, even if only a little, from their studies of piety. Observe these wanderers, good man, and do not refuse to piously distress these slothful ones; for perhaps by this sadness they will cease to wander about and roam. Take care, however, that you do not, on the occasion of such words, rashly afflict with sadness a soul that comes to you thirsting to draw from the water of life. In all things you need the lamp of discernment. The life of solitaries, or rather of monks, should be governed by conscience and the true sense of the heart. He who runs the way of the Lord with reason arranges all his studies, words, thoughts, movements, and actions according to the divine rule, and performs all things for the Lord’s sake, doing so in the sense of his heart before the face of God. If, however, he is deceived and led astray, he does not yet live according to the rule of virtue. "I will open," says one, "my proposition in the psalter, and my counsel," due to the still imperfect state of my discernment. "But I shall open my will through prayer, and from thence I shall await my assurance." Faith is the wing of prayer; for if it lacks this, prayer will return again into my own bosom. Faith is an unshakable state of the soul, which cannot be moved by any adversity. The faithful man is not he who thinks that God can do all things, but he who believes that he shall attain all things (that he requests). Faith is the agent of things unhoped for, and this the thief proved. The mother of faith is labor, and a right heart; for the one creates constant and firm resolve, while the other brings it about. The parent of solitaries is faith: for if he does not believe, how will he cultivate solitude? A man shackled in prison fears the judge. But he who resides in a cell fears the Lord. The former does not fear the place of judgment as vehemently as the latter fears the tribunal of the supreme Judge. ^B Great fear is needed by you, O admirable man, in solitude: for nothing is more potent to dispel and pursue acedia. A criminal always looks around to see if the judge is coming to the prison; but the true laborer waits for when his Lord shall come, who commands and urges him to go forth (from the prison of the body). That prisoner is always accompanied by the weight of sadness; the solitary, by a fountain of tears. If you acquire the rod of patience, those dogs will soon desist from barking impudently. Patience is a labor that never breaks the soul, and is not disturbed by any rational crises that may be raised. A patient religious cannot fall: since even through his very falls he takes the opportunity of conquering. Patience is the settled expectation of daily affliction. Patience is the cutting away of pretexts, and attention to one’s own affairs. A religious does not have such need of his food as he does of patience; for through patience he will carry off a reward, while for the former (often) he runs into ruin. A patient man is dead before he dies, having turned his cell into his tomb. Hope and mourning have brought forth patience; for he who lacks these two virtues is a slave to acedia. The athlete of Christ must know which of his enemies are to be pursued from afar, and which are to be encountered ^C hand-to-hand.

^A Sometimes the battle has bestowed a crown, but sometimes withdrawal has rendered men unapproved. It is not possible to be instructed in these things by word alone, for we are not all formed with the same dispositions, nor are we led in the same way. Watch one of the spirits soberly (34), since he himself constantly battles you in standing, in changing place, in sitting, in movement, in lying down, in prayer, and in sleep. Some of those who dwell upon the path of stillness (35) hold this exercise for themselves: *I foresaw the Lord before me always*. For not all the loaves of the spiritual labor of the heavenly wheat are of a single kind. Others exercise that of Christ: *In your patience you shall possess your souls*. Others: *Watch and pray*. Others: *Prepare your works for your departure*. Others: *I was humbled, and He saved me*. Some constantly ponder this: *The sufferings of this present time are not worthy of the glory that is to come*. Others, again, contemplate this most intensely: *Lest he snatch, and there be none to deliver*. All indeed run (36), but one of them receives the prize (37). He who has attained progress (in the solitary life) labors not only while awake, but even while asleep, without effort. Hence, some, even in their very sleep, shame the demons who approach them, and exhort lascivious women to chastity. Do not wait for their arrival, nor prepare yourself against them; for the state of stillness is entirely simple and unencumbered. No one wishing to build a tower or ^B cell of religious stillness attempts the work before sitting down to calculate and examine, through prayer, whether he possesses the necessary qualities for its completion, lest, after laying the foundation, he become a laughingstock to his enemies and a hindrance to other laborers. Be on guard against the pleasantness or sweetness that arrives, lest it have been subtly concocted by bitter physicians, or rather by deceivers. For the most part, give the night to prayer, and but little to psalmody. By day, however, gird yourself again to perform your work according to your strength. Reading is accustomed not a little to enlighten and collect the mind, for they are the words of the Holy Spirit and completely guide and temper those who read. Let reading that is suited to action be yours while you labor. For the purpose of action makes it so that there is no longer a need for the reading of other things: strive to illuminate the doctrine of salvation through labors rather than through books. Do not touch books alien to your rule before you have been instructed by the power of the Holy Spirit. For the more obscure words cast darkness upon weak souls. A single cup provides the taste of the wine; and a single intimate conversation ^C revealed to those able to taste it the entire work and state of the heart. Possess an unwavering eye of the soul toward meditation, for there is nothing more destructive than this in thefts (41). Spare your tongue as you go your way, for it knows how to scatter many labors in a moment. Practice a state free of curiosity, for curiosity can defile stillness like nothing else. To those who visit you, communicate those things that are necessary (42), I say, concerning body and soul. ^D

^A If they are wiser, let us show our philosophy through silence; but if they are simple brothers in their state of life, let us open the door with moderation. Still, it is better to consider everyone else to be superior to oneself. I desired completely to forbid to those who are still like children in the assemblies the work of the body, but he who carried the sand in his garment all night long restrained me. Just as it is contrary to the doctrine of the holy, uncreated, ^B and adorable Trinity, to speak of the incarnation of the one from that same much-praised Trinity [in the same way as one speaks of the Trinity itself]—for what is plural there is singular in Christ, and what is singular there is plural in Christ—so too, different practices are proper to stillness, and others to obedience. The divine Apostle says, "Who has known the mind of the Lord?" (Rom. XI, 34). But I say: Who has known the mind of a man who lives in stillness in body and soul? The power of a king lies in riches and a multitude; but the power of the solitary lies in the abundance and frequency of his prayers.

SCHOLIA

On the chapter concerning the difference of stillness

Scholion 1

Scholion 2

Scholion 3

Scholion 4

Scholion 5

Scholion 6

who are already perfect. Having begun, therefore, from the more humble things, he has already run up to the higher things, using speech as a sort of ladder; for a ladder is naturally suited to lift one up from the lower to the higher things. ^A

Scholion 7. To conceive sorrow and sadness in the mind surpasses every labor and exhaustion of the body.

Scholion 8. Just as a servant coming when the master wishes. ^B

Scholion 9. Following the relaxation of the body [limbs] comes the wandering and defilement of thoughts; following immoderate labor comes sloth; following sloth comes that freedom to wander, and one differs from the other. For the first is followed by the battle of lust; the second by the abandonment of one's solitary cell and migration from place to place (for moderate and constant labor is not followed by such penalty). The relaxation of these labors increases pleasure, while excess increases the wandering of the mind. Wherefore, it is difficult to attain what follows these things which he enumerated, for he who lacks them pursues a quiet or solitary life without reason. . . .

Scholion 10. Where there is an abundance of vices, there is a lack of virtues. ^C

Scholion 11. And, what follows from this, he refers, I think, to a fall of the flesh or to a stupor of the mind: for such things are accustomed to arise from a proud and lifted-up spirit, just as blasphemy does.

Scholion 12. He who lacks these is not obedient or subject.

Scholion 13. For excessive freedom and a lack of compunction are worse than everything, which is followed by scurrilous buffoonery.

Scholion 14. There are eight principal thoughts of vices, by which they attack those living in solitude: the vice of sloth, vainglory, pride, sadness, anger; and those who live under obedience: gluttony, lust, avarice. ^D

Scholion 15. Sloth is a certain parent of vices: for the good things you have acquired, it easily snatches away; and what you lack, it prevents you from acquiring.

Scholion 16. For how can one who is not free from cares have time for prayers, or direct his heart and mind to that end?

Elias the Cretan. Three advancements or orders or degrees in these present matters this divine father teaches: the renunciation of all the cares of life, and what accompanies this—prayer

^A to the point of death, and the inviolable study or operation of the heart; so that it is manifest that prayer, being the medium, is placed between two extremes. He, therefore, who has renounced all the cares of life, will be able to strive toward those things which follow. "Having attained the medium of the two," he says, "I have stood in the midst of the goods—or virtues—and have not yet ascended the final degree of the goods or virtues."

Scholion 17

Another

Scholion of Isaac 18

Scholion 19

Another

Scholion 20

Scholion 21

Scholion of Mark 22

^A

*Another from Isaac.* When the power of wine has entered the limbs, the mind casts off concern for all things. And when the memory of God has received authority in the soul, it casts off all the bile or vomit of the heart, which it draws in through sight.

Scholion 23. It is good to instruct those desirous of learning by word, but it is better to assist them by virtues, prayers, and deeds; for he who offers himself to God through these things, through his own virtue and aid, renders assistance to his neighbor at the same time. If you wish to instruct a lover of learning with a concise word, point him toward prayer and right faith.

Scholion 24. Meaning the leaning and colloquy toward God.

Scholion 25. Do not pour out speech into the ears of a fool, lest he sneer at your co-workers. For the company of lighter or vainer men is extremely harmful and very destructive. ^B For just as those who happen to be in pestilential air inevitably fall ill, so too those who spend their time among indifferent people partake of their wickedness; for "Evil communications corrupt good manners."

Scholion of Isaac 26. Do not reprimand too harshly those who seek your prayers, nor deprive them of the consolations of gentle words, lest they perish and their souls be required of you; but imitate the physicians, who treat hotter maladies with colder medicines, and colder ones with the opposite. ^C

Scholion 27. Question: What is a solitary? Response: He who is alone outwardly, removed from things and secular business; but inwardly (and in mind) is also separated from those same businesses by his thoughts, so that he does not even admit the cogitations of profane cares. Secondly, a solitary is he whose mind is turned and intent toward the true God, repelling all thoughts that originate from malice.

Scholion 28. When you pray truly and sincerely, you will find an excellent testimony of conscience within. And the angels will dwell with you, and they will teach you the reasons for the things that occur, and will illuminate your mind.

Another. What other good is there besides God? Why then do we not render to Him everything we have? And all will be well for us; for since He is supremely good, He will also bestow good gifts upon us. ^D

Scholion 29. Whoever believes in the things that are to come (after this life) abstains from the pleasures of the present life without controversy. But the unbeliever becomes luxurious and loses all sense.

Scholion of Isaiah 30. A man who trusts in someone who is not with God

^A is joined to him, [and] has no fear of God in himself. And insofar as anyone serves the passions, he is not yet reckoned among the servants of God, but is the servant of that one under whose power he is held.

Another [Scholion] of John of Damascus. Fear is divided into six: into sloth, into shame, into modesty, into stupor, into anxiety, into terror. Sloth is fear of an impending action; modesty is fear arising from the expectation of reproach—and this is a most excellent passion; shame is fear for an obscene deed already committed—and not even this is without hope of salvation; stupor is fear from a massive mental image; terror is fear from an unusual mental image; anxiety is fear from a falling away, that is, from failure; for when we fear to fail in our undertaking, we become anxious.

Scholion of Isaac 31

Scholion 32

Scholion 33

Scholion 34

Scholion 35

Scholion 36

Scholion 37

Scholion 38

^A

Scholion 39.

Scholion 40.

Another.

Scholion of Theodoret 41.

Another, of Theologos (Nazianzen).

Another.

Another.

Another.

Another.

Scholion 42.

Another, of Abbot Joseph.

Scholion 43.

one will. In Christ, however, one hypostasis, or subsistence, and one person, but two natures and two wills, although heretics and blasphemers may think otherwise.

STEP XXVIII. On the holy and virtue-begetting prayer, and [proper] mental and bodily presence therein.

^B Prayer, if you look at its nature and quality, is a familiar conversation and union of man with God; but if you look at its power or efficacy, it is the preservation of the world, reconciliation with God, the mother of tears and their daughter in turn, the propitiation of sins, a bridge over temptations, a rampart against the onset of afflictions, the crushing and extinction of wars, the office of angels, the nourishment of all incorporeal spirits, future joy, an unending operation, a fountain of virtues, a channel of divine graces, spiritual progress, nourishment for the soul, the illumination of the mind, an axe against despair, a demonstration of hope, the solution of sadness, the wealth of monks, the treasure of solitaries, a diminution of anger, a mirror of religious progress, an index of measurements, a declaration of state, a herald of things to come, an indication of future glory. Prayer is truly the court of the one praying, a place of judgment and a tribunal of the Lord before the future judgment. Let us rise and hear this holy queen of virtues calling out to us with a loud voice: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you; take my yoke upon you, and you will find rest for your souls, and medicine for your wounds." For "my yoke is easy," and it heals great sins. Whenever we hasten to stand before the Emperor and God, and to converse with Him, let us not enter upon this course unprepared, lest, seeing us from afar without weapons and without the royal robe of standing, He command His servants and ministers to cast us out, far from His face, and to send us into exile, and cast our prayers, torn and condemned, back into our faces. When you go to pray, let your garment and tunic be, in the sight of the Lord, woven entirely of the thread, or rather the yarn, of oblivion of all insults. Unless this is done, you will gain no return of value from your prayer. Let your whole prayer be sincere and without hypocrisy. For by a single word both the publican and the prodigal reconciled God to themselves. There is indeed one status of those who pray, but a thousand forms and varieties are contained within it. Some, for instance, converse and deal with God as with a friend and Master, not pleading their own cause, but the cause of others, offering praises and supplications to God; others seek heavenly riches and glory and greater confidence; others ask that they be entirely liberated from their enemy; others desire and seek some dignity; others, that they be freed from all care of debts; others, that they be delivered from prison; others seek the forgiveness of crimes.

^A Place at the beginning of the document of your petition a sincere thanksgiving. In the second verse, place confession and contrition flowing from a true sense of the soul, and so henceforth lay open our prayers to the King of all. For the best mode of prayer is that which I have mentioned, just as it was signified by the angel of the Lord to one of the brothers. If ever you have acted as a defendant in your own cause before a mortal judge, you will have no need of another form in your prayers before God. But if you have never stood at the tribunal of any judge, nor seen others being examined, learn this at least from the sick when they ask a physician, [who seek] either to be cut or to be cauterized. ^B Do not devise exquisite words in your prayer; for often the simple and stumbling words of children and infants have appeased their Father who is in heaven. Do not attempt to use many words, lest your mind be distracted while searching for words. A single word of the publican appeased God, and one faithful utterance saved the thief on the cross. Verbosity in prayer often involves and dissipates the mind with phantasms; few words are wont to gather the distracted mind. When you are delighted or compuncted by some word during your prayer, linger on that word, for our guardian angel then prays with us. Do not act too confidently or forwardly with God, even if you are pure, but approach with much greater humility, and you will experience greater confidence. ^C Although you may have already laboriously ascended all the rungs of the virtues by the ladder, yet ask for the forgiveness of sins, and hear Paul crying out concerning sinners: "Of whom I am the first." Foods are wont to be seasoned with oil and salt; prayer is elevated by temperance and tears. When you have put on complete meekness of soul and have stripped away all anger, you will not labor much to free your mind from servitude. As long as we have not acquired an unimpeded and sure method of prayer, we are like those who first train infants to walk. Labor to lift up your mind, or rather, to enclose and conclude your thoughts within the sure bounds of the words of your prayer; and though, because of your infancy, you may fall through weakness, yet raise it up again and lead it back onto the path; for inconstancy is proper to the mind. But He who can do all things can also establish and confirm this. If you struggle constantly and without ceasing, He who set boundaries to the sea of your mind will truly come to you, and will say to it in your prayer: "Thus far you shall come," and you shall not pass beyond. ^D Spirit cannot be constrained by any bonds; but where the Creator of the spirit is, there all things are subject to Him. If you have ever looked upon the sun, you will then be able to converse with Him as is fitting; for how can you truly deal with that which you have not seen?

The beginning of prayer is the warding off of distractions—even though they may be clamorous—from the very outset, by a mere nod of the mind. The middle stage is when the mind remains fixed only on those things which it has proposed to meditate upon and handle. The end is rapture toward God. There is one joy in prayer that occurs to those who dwell together in a community, and another for those who...

^A dwell apart: the latter usually happens to those who pray in solitude. The former perhaps labors under phantasms for some; the latter is perfected in safe humility. If you have led your mind by assiduous exercise so that it never wanders very far, then even when the table is set, you will be recollected. But if you allow it to wander with impunity, you will never have it present for its duty. That great cultivator of great and perfect prayer says: "I wish to speak five words with my mind," and what follows. But this is still beyond the reach of beginners and the simple. And so we also, as imperfect, beseech with a certain measure and quantity [of words]. For the second is a path to the first. He who gives, he says, pure prayer to one who prays tirelessly, even if the rest is sordid and laborious, prays. Sordidness of prayer is one thing, extinction is another, theft is another, and illusion is another. ^B Sordidness, or uncleanness, is when absurd thoughts revolve in the soul during divine prayers. Extinction is when, during prayer, the mind is led away and dragged captive into useless cares. Theft is when the mind wanders without sense or perception. Illusion is any impulse whatsoever that rushes into us when we pray. Whenever we are among others while praying, let us form within our soul an image and habit of one who is suppliant. If there are no companions or ministers of prayer with us, let us also manifest outwardly the appearance and habit suited for prayer. For in those who are imperfect, the mind often conforms to the body. Everyone without exception, but especially those who approach the King for the sake of obtaining the remission of sins, is in need of supreme contrition. While we are still in prison, let us hear Him who said to Peter: "Gird yourself with the linen cloth of obedience," and strip off your own wills, and naked approach the Lord in your prayer. For if you have implored the will of Him alone, you will receive the Lord, who holds the rudder of your soul and will guide you without any danger. ^C When you have risen above the love of the world and the desires of pleasures, cast off all cares, strip off thoughts, renounce the body, for prayer is nothing else but the renunciation of the whole world, both that which falls under the eyes and that which escapes the sight, of both the corporeal and the incorporeal: "For what is there for me in heaven? And what have I desired of Thee on earth? Nothing, except that I may always be attached to Thee and never separated from Thee through prayer." By some, wealth is sought; by others, glory; by others, possessions. But to me, it is desirable to cling to God, and to place the hope of my tranquility in Him. Faith gives wings to prayer; for without it, one cannot fly into heaven. Let us, who are subject to passions, persist in beseeching the Lord; for all who are subject to passions have progressed from passion to ^D dispassion. Even if the Judge does not require God, yet because he causes Him labors through sin, and because the soul is widowed of Him by its transgression, He will execute vengeance for it from its adversary, the body, and from its hostile spirits. Our good Negotiator attracts those who are grateful to His own love through the prompt granting of the request; but the ungrateful souls of the dogs, through hunger and...

thirst, He ensures remain longer in petition through prayers. For an ungrateful dog, once he has received bread, immediately departs from his benefactor. Do not say that you have profited nothing from long-lasting prayers, for you have already profited enough. For what good is more sublime and excellent than to be joined with God and to persevere perpetually in that union with Him? ^B A guilty and condemned man does not fear the sentence of punishment as much as he who has charge of prayer trembles while he is engaged in prayer. Hence, he who is wise and sharper of mind can reject and escape every insult, anger, cares, business, affliction, fullness of food, temptation, and thoughts, through the memory of prayer. Prepare yourself through prayer of the mind that is never interrupted, so that you may stand before God in your prayers, and you will immediately make progress. ^C

I have seen those who shine with the virtue of obedience, and who never, as far as possible, let the memory of God slip from their mind; who vied with one another in applying themselves simultaneously to prayer, and in the briefest time overcame all distractions of the mind, and poured forth tears like fountains. For they were made ready for prayer through holy obedience. Psalmodic prayer which is usually done in a gathering of many is followed by captivities of the soul and distractions of thoughts, but private and solitary prayer is not; rather, acedia attacks the latter, while alacrity of soul aids the former. War shows the soldier's love toward his king; but the time of prayer, when he stands before God, proves the monk’s love toward God. Your prayer will show you your own state. For those theologians have declared prayer to be the mirror of the monk. He who begins any work by chance, and continues with it when the hour of prayer arrives, is mocked by the demons; for these thieves strive to steal and waste the hour from us. Being asked, do not refuse to pray for another's soul, even if you do not have the grace of praying. For often the faith of the one asking has saved also the one praying with contrition of soul. There is nothing [to cause you to be] exalted because you have prayed for another and been heard: it is their faith that has done and accomplished it. Boys are forced daily by their schoolmaster to render most accurately what they have learned from him, and from our mind, which has received strength and virtue from God, an account will be required in all prayers. Wherefore one must be diligently attentive; when you pray soberly, you will be more quickly attacked through anger; for this is what the demons aim at (so that they may deprive us of all fruit of prayer). ^D Every virtue, indeed, but especially prayer, must always be performed by us with great affection and feeling of soul. But the soul prays with feeling when it conquers irascibility. Good things obtained by many prayers and years are solid and constant. He who has possessed God will not...

^A be troubled by doubts, and possesses an unshakable manifestation of the uncertain. Be very merciful, you who are diligent in prayer 16; for in it monks shall receive a hundredfold, and what follows in the age to come 17. Fire, having arrived in the heart, has raised up prayer 18; and when this has been stirred up and ascended into heaven, a descent of fire into the upper chamber of the soul has come to pass. Some indeed say that prayer is better than the remembrance of death, but I praise two natures in one subsistence. A noble horse is naturally accustomed to become warm during the ascent and to add to his speed; the course is the singing of hymns, the noble horse is the mind; such a one smells the battle from afar ^B and, having prepared himself, remains henceforth invincible. It is difficult to snatch water from the mouth of one who is thirsty, but it is more difficult to snatch the soul from prayer made with compunction, before its attainment of that most desired communion. Do not withdraw until you see the fire and the water have, in the economy of grace, subsided 21; for perhaps you will not again in all your life find such an opportunity for the remission of sins. He who has tasted prayer, often by one rash word has defiled his mind, and standing in prayer later, did not find the object of his desire as he was accustomed to. It is one thing to meditate within oneself with the heart, and another to inspect and visit the heart itself through the mind, as a sovereign and high priest offering rational sacrifices to Christ. For those who, as one of those who have attained the title of theologian says, are visited by the holy and supercelestial fire, it burns them up because there is still something lacking in their purification; but others it illuminates according to the measure ^C of their perfection; for the same fire is called both consuming and enlightening light. Hence it is that some, coming out of prayer, appear as if coming forth from a fiery furnace, sensing that they have been cleansed of some filth and material uncleanness; while others come forth enlightened by a light, and clothed in a double garment of humility and exultation. For those who come out of prayer outside of these two energies, have prayed corporally—not to say, Judaically—and not spiritually. If a body that touches a body is changed in its energy, how then shall he not be changed who touches the body of God with pure hands 25?

It is possible, just as with an earthly king, to behold our own supremely good King, sometimes through Himself, sometimes through a friend, and at other times through a servant, and there is a time when He bestows His gifts upon His soldiers even secretly and unknown; this is done according to the tunic of humility ^D that we wear. Just as he who stands before an earthly king, and turns his own face away, and converses with the enemies of his master, is loathsome; so he is loathsome to the Lord

who, while in prayer, admits or encourages impure thoughts. Pursue the incoming dog with weapons, and never yield to one that barks more impudently. Ask through mourning, seek through obedience, knock through long-suffering. For he who asks this way receives, he who seeks thus finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened. Take heed lest you rashly accept requests for any woman in your prayer, lest the adversary attack you from the right side and despoil you. Do not desire to recount the actions of the body (a) in detail as they occur, lest you become a conspirator against yourself. Do not set aside for prayer the time which must be spent on necessary tasks and spiritual business. If you do not observe this, that which is better is withdrawn from you. He who always leans upon the staff of prayer will not stumble; and if it happens that he stumbles, he will not fall to the end. For prayer is a certain pious tyranny over God, the utility of which we experience when demons attempt to hinder us at the time of communion. Moreover, we perceive the fruit of prayer from the vanquished enemy: *In this I knew that you valued me, because my enemy shall not rejoice over me at the time of battle.* I have cried out, says the Psalmist, *with my whole heart*, that is, with body, soul, and spirit. For where the two lowest are gathered, there is God in the midst of them. Neither in body nor in spirit is the state of all men the same. For to some, rapidity in psalmody is profitable, to others slowness: for the former claim to be struggling against the distractions or captivities of the mind, the latter against ignorance. If, when enemies are assailing you, you constantly call the heavenly King to your aid, have courage, you will not grow weary: for they will depart from you quickly of their own accord; for the unholy fear that you might win a crown through prayer from the battle against them; therefore they will flee from prayer as if tortured by fire. Always be of a stout heart and you will have God as the teacher of your prayer. We cannot learn the faculty of seeing through speech, for it follows nature itself: and so we cannot attain the excellence of prayer through the teaching of another; for it has within itself God as a teacher, who teaches man knowledge, gives prayer to the one who prays, and blesses the years of the righteous.

SCHOLIA ON GRADUS XXVIII. Concerning Prayer.

^A Scholion 3. Just as those who train infants to form their gait raise them up again when they have advanced a little and fallen, and teach them to walk more often, so let us also, when our mind in prayer falls from its inclination toward God, raise it up and stand it back up again, until it acquires a steadiness that does not fall.

Scholion 4. God is the sun of righteousness, as it is written, radiating all the rays of goodness simply; but the soul is naturally disposed to become either wax, as a lover of God, or clay, as a lover of matter. Just as, therefore, clay is by nature dried and parched by the sun, while wax is naturally softened, so too every soul that is addicted to the flesh and the world, even though admonished or impelled by God, when it resists and rebels against Him, hardens and drives itself toward destruction like Pharaoh; but the one that loves God is softened like wax, and receiving the forms and characters of divine things, it becomes a dwelling place of God in the spirit.

^B Scholion 5. In three things the state of those struggling in the religious life is known: in the thoughts regarding sensible things, in the consideration or contemplation of them, and in the manner of praying.

Scholion 6. Bodily labor or fatigue is very useful for beginners or those who are imperfect according to their spiritual age; but for the perfect it is superfluous, as they suffice to be exercised by the mind alone and without the forms of images. But for religious novices, both repentance is necessary, and praying with hands stretched out for a long time, and standing through the whole night, and other things of this kind, so that ^C their mind may become accustomed to the body in following prayer. The perfect, however, being now sufficient unto themselves, are intent upon perpetual prayer without any cessation, even if they do not seem to be doing so by the position of their body.

Scholion 7. God has neither a God whom He might fear, nor a man whom He might revere; there is no respect of persons with Him; for He is a judge of iniquity and of justice, that is, of the unjust; for to the just, the law is not laid down.

Scholion 8. It is by divine dispensation that God does not grant the graces to those who ask. For those who have received them have often forgotten the Giver, as it is said, "Jacob ate," and what follows; and, "The people sat ^D to eat and drink, and rose up to play."

Scholion 9 of Isaac. If God has delayed in instantly hearing you when you have asked for something, do not be grieved; for you are not wiser than God. This happens to you because you are either unworthy to obtain what you desire, or because the ways of your heart do not correspond to your petitions but are contrary to them, or because you have not yet reached the measure to receive the grace

what you ask for; since one ought not to lay upon oneself greater measures before the time, lest the gift of God be brought into contempt by the speed of its bestowal. For whatever is easily acquired, quickly perishes. But a thing attained not without labor of soul is guarded and kept with great care. Scholion 10. He who has the habit of praying... Scholion 11. Private prayer, which I, agitated by a thousand disturbances, have known. Scholion 12. But this which is wont to take place in a multitude, though I have not experienced it myself, I believe it. Scholion 13. He who has decided to live according to God is freed from all anger, and does not persecute any mortal whatsoever with hatred. Scholion 14. The mind, he says, dilated by charity, having turned toward Him who gives to those who pray the things they ask for, and being inspired by Him, is not anxious about the words of prayers uttered by itself; and he who has experienced this by the deed itself will account words as superfluous, estimating the quality of prayer not by its prolixity. Scholion 15. When about to pray, do not compare divine things with human and sensible things, lest you fall away from the right opinion and faith. Scholion 16. You have closed your bowels (of compassion) against doing good, and I too shall close the bosoms of indulgence or pardon in the time of your vengeance and punishment. Another. Do good to the pious, and you shall receive compensation. Another. Why do you weep during prayers, when you, having looked upon the tears of the poor, are not moved to mercy? Another. How will God have mercy on you? Almsgiving is the wings of prayer: if you do not add wings to your prayers, they cannot reach heaven; but when your prayer becomes winged, it flies up to heaven. For just as fire, if it lacks dripping oil, is extinguished, so too prayers vanish without almsgiving. Scholion 17. What follows are the fruits of the thirtieth, and the sixtieth, which are found even among those in the world. For the thirtieth befits those married who have lived temperately; the sixtieth, those who live in celibacy with virtue; but the hundredth is attained by those who have hated the whole world and have decided to live for God alone. Scholion 18. By fire here he denotes divine desire, by which once received into the heart the mind is lifted up to heaven, and henceforth in such a mansion of…

the soul, that is to say, in a sentiment higher than earthly things, the descent of the divine Spirit has taken place, just as it was visibly apparent upon the Apostles. ^A

Scholion 19. Both in equal measure benefit the soul and bring to it divine compunction.

Scholion 20. "Far off," that is, he who is far from earthly things.

Scholion 21. Do not depart from prayer until the tears stirred up by God and the flame of compunction are again stayed by divine dispensation on account of the exaltation of the soul; for you do not know, he says, whether you will ever again attain to a provider of such graces. ^B

Scholion 22. Such is to know and to review oneself. And he says it is one thing to act as an overseer, and another to be a ruler of the passions, which is much nobler than the former.

Another. The mind is a ruler when it properly tends to and manages that which is within itself and that which is about it, that is, the faculties of the soul and the instruments of the bodily senses. But it is a high priest when, through prayer, it brings its pure and unadulterated thoughts to the divine altar. The duty of a ruler is to oversee the exterior; ^C that of a high priest is to oversee constantly both the exterior and the interior.

Scholion 23. He speaks of the divine mysteries, or the sanctified.

Scholion 24. He calls the devil a dog, who steals the mind away from prayer under some pretext (of necessity or business), and he must be driven off by resorting to God through communion in prayer against him.

Scholion 25. Observe that disgraceful deeds should not be recounted in prayer in minute and specific detail.

Another. He who is wise and knows the truth confesses to God, not through the memory of things ^D done, but through the endurance of things that befall him.

Scholion 26. He says that one does not need a teacher to pray, but one's own private zeal, because of which God Himself stands by as his teacher. For God teaches one who prays lawfully and zealously through illumination, and makes his mind firm against error, and delivers him from captivity.

Another of Maximus. He who sincerely loves God prays without distraction; he who prays without distraction, sincerely loves God. Whoever does not pray without distraction…

has his mind tied to earthly things. Therefore, he who has his mind bound to an affection for human concerns does not love God. Another of Nilus. Prayer is an elevation [ascension] of the mind to God. Attention seeks prayer and finds it. For if prayer is followed by anything else, one must labor for the attention.

STEP XXIX

On the heavenly, earthly, and God-imitating tranquility of the soul, and on perfection and the resurrection of the soul before the general resurrection.

^B Behold, then, we too, though placed in the deepest pit of ignorance, in the darkness of passions, and in the shadow of death of this body, yet venture to discourse with audacity on the earthly heaven. For the firmament has the stars as its adornment, but the tranquility of the soul has the virtues. For I consider [dispassion] to be nothing else than a heaven of the mind within the heart, which thereafter holds all the base arts of the demons as child’s play and as a mockery. He, therefore, is truly the conqueror of all perturbations, and is known as such, who has purged his flesh from every stain of corruption and has rendered it incorrupt; who has raised his mind above all created nature and has subjected all the senses of the body to the mind; who has set his soul itself before the face of the Lord, while stretching it toward Him beyond the powers of nature. Some, on the other hand, define dispassion as being the resurrection of the soul before that of the body; others define it as the perfect knowledge of God, second only to that of the angels. This, then, is the perfect, incomplete perfection of the perfect, just as one who had tasted of it recounted to me; it so sanctifies the mind ^C and snatches it away from material things that, after grasping the heavenly harbor, it lifts it up—for the greatest and most part of this mortal life—into heaven, through an ecstasy of mind, to contemplate God. This is the one of whom he speaks, who perhaps had tasted the experience of the thing: "The strong ones of the earth have been greatly exalted," such as we have learned that certain Egyptian was, who, even when he prayed among many, did not let down his hands, which he held extended.

^D Among those who are undisturbed, one is more tranquil and perfect than another; for one vehemently hates iniquity, while another is enriched with virtues in an insatiable manner. Indeed, even a certain chastity is called the tranquility of the soul, and rightly so; for it is the beginning of the common resurrection, and the incorruption or immortality of those who are corruptible or mortal. He who said, "I have possessed the mind of the Lord," showed forth tranquility. The Egyptian showed forth tranquility who denied that he feared the Lord. Tranquility was also shown by him who, to drive away the vices of perturbation...

^A sought God, saying, "Who before the coming charity, like that one, has been deemed worthy of such tranquility?" David, the most celebrated among the holy prophets, sings: "Forgive me," he says to the Lord, "that I may be refreshed" (Ps. XXXIX, 14). But this athlete of Christ says: "Remit the waves of Thy grace." That soul is in possession of tranquility which is so affected and modified by the virtues as those who are perturbed and vicious are by pleasures. If this is the supreme degree of gluttony, to force oneself to dine without appetite when one is not hungry, then this will be the supreme degree of temperance, even when one is hungry, to keep nature subject to no vice. If this is the mark of extreme luxury, to be driven by desire and to rage after irrational beasts and inanimate things, certainly that will be the mark of highest chastity, to be moved in the same way toward all things, whether animate or inanimate. If this is the supreme limit of avarice, to set no measure to the amassing of wealth, nor to be satisfied by money, then conversely it will be the proof of true poverty, not even to spare one's own body. If this is the mark of extreme sloth, to become impatient in the midst of total leisure, that surely will be the judgment of supreme patience, to consider in the very midst of affliction that one has found relaxation. If this is the extreme of anger, like the fury of the sea, to be stirred up even when no one is present, then that will be the sign of supreme equanimity of soul, to retain the same serenity of mind whether the calumniator is present or absent. If he ascends to the pinnacle of vainglory who, when no one is present by whom he might be praised, ^B yet feigns and simulates the works of vainglory, then without doubt it will be the form and specimen of vainglory utterly rejected and conquered, to be in no way moved in one's mind in assemblies, nor to suffer it to creep into oneself. If this is a species of exile or pride, to be puffed up in a vile habit, then this will be the sign of salutary humility, to retain a humble spirit in arduous works and the offices of the virtues. If this is the indication of supreme viciousness, to yield immediately to all the suggestions of demons, then I will affirm that I can openly attest this as the most certain token of holy tranquility: "When the evil one turned away from me, I did not know it, nor how he approached, nor for what reason, nor how he departed, but towards these things, and all things of this kind, I am as one who lacks all feeling, having been united, and being destined to be always united, with God." ^C He who has been deemed worthy of such a state, while still in the flesh, has God dwelling within him, who governs all his words, deeds, and thoughts. And consequently, he receives within him as it were the voice of someone, which interprets the divine will to him through illumination, whence, having become more learned and sublime than all human doctrine, he says: "When shall I come and appear before the face of God?" (Ps. XLI, 3); for I can no longer bear the force of desire, but I seek that immortal beauty which Thou hast given me before this filth of flesh. Established in this tranquility of soul—what need is there of more?—he no longer lives himself, but Christ lives in him, just as he says who has fought the good fight, and has finished his course, and has kept the faith ^D orthodox (Gal. II, 20). A king's crown does not consist of a single precious stone, nor is the tranquility of the soul perfected if even one virtue, whatever it may be, is neglected. By tranquility you shall understand that heavenly...

^A king’s palace. There are, however, many mansions within this city, which are the dwellings of the just; and the wall of Jerusalem is the remission of sins. Let us run, brethren, that we may penetrate into the bridal chamber of the heavenly palace. But if, through the anticipation of some burden (O the calamity!) or through time, we have been forestalled, let us at least strive to occupy some place around the chamber itself. And if we are still delaying and are remiss, let us nevertheless take care to penetrate within the walls in whatever way we can. For he who has not entered therein before the end of his life, or rather who has not ascended and surmounted the walls, will dwell in the vast wilderness of the demons. Therefore, that certain one prayed: *In my God I will overleap a wall* [Ps. XVII, 30]. And another says as if from the person of God: *Are not your iniquities those which divide between you and me?* [Isa. LIX, 2]. Let us break through, my friends, the middle wall of the hedge, which we have built poorly through disobedience. Let us receive from here the discharge of our debts, because there is no one in the underworld who can heal. ^B Let us have leisure, brethren, for we have been enrolled as students; there is no excuse to be made for a fall, or time, or burden: for as many as received the Lord through the laver of regeneration, He gave them the power to become children of God [John I, 12], saying: *Be at leisure and know that I am God* [Ps. XLV, 11], and the true tranquility from every storm of passions and vices, to whom be glory for all the ages of ages. Amen.

It [i.e., blessed tranquility] truly raises a needy mind from the earth to heaven, and raises a poor man from the dungheap of the passions; but most praiseworthy charity places him with princes, ^C that is to say with the holy angels, with the princes of His people [Ps. CXI, 7, 8].

SCHOLIA ON GRADUS XXIX

On religious tranquility of soul, or the victory over the passions.

Scholion 1.

Scholion 2.

Another.

Another, by Nilus.

shall be done away*—for when that which is perfect is come, it signifies that here we are unable to grasp the divine perfection. ^A Aliud.

Geminam perfectionem. Geminam perfectionem The blessed Paul acknowledges a twofold perfection, and understands the same man to be both perfect and imperfect: perfect, in truth, in so far as it relates to the present state of life; but imperfect, in so far as it relates to the true perfection of the future state. Wherefore he said: *Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected*. And after a few words, he adds: *Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, be thus minded*.

Scholion 3. The soul possesses state of dispassion, not that which is unmoved by mundane things, but that which remains imperturbable even with regard to the memory of them.

Scholion aliud. The observance of the commandments of God begets dispassion; and the dispassion of the soul preserves knowledge.

Scholion 4. The vice of avarice is detected from this: when he who receives rejoices in receiving, but is saddened in giving—for one of this sort cannot be a good steward.

Scholion 5. Observe that pride tends directly to destruction: the contrary is ^B clear by itself.

Scholion 6. Darkness does not endure the presence of light; nor does a disease persist when health arrives; neither do the passions have any power when perfect tranquility of soul is present.

Scholion 7. By beauty, he understands immortality, but by the clay, this earthly flesh into which Adam donned after the transgression, as he says who is called the Theologian.

Scholion 8. He calls the measures of the mind of those who dwell in that region "many mansions"; I mean the distinctions and differences in which they are nurtured in their minds. For he did not speak of many mansions as differences of places, but as orders of graces and gifts. ^C

STEP XXX On the bond of the three virtues (namely, faith, hope, and charity).

Now therefore, after all that has been said, *there abide these three: faith, hope, charity*: by which all things are bound together by the closest tie ^D

^A. But the greatest of all is charity; for it is called God. Yet for my part, I contemplate the first of these as a ray, the second as a light, and the third as a full orb or circle; and from them all one splendor and brightness shines forth. For faith is able to do and effect all things; the mercy of God surrounds and fortifies hope, and does not allow it to be confounded; but charity neither falls nor ever stops in its course, nor does it allow one who is wounded by charity ever to rest from this blessed madness. He who undertakes to speak of the charity of God, undertakes to speak of God Himself. But to hold discourse and dispute about God is a doubtful and dangerous matter for those who are not attentive to the magnitude of the task they are undertaking. Discourse about charity is known to the angels, and to them according to the measure and capacity of their divine illumination. *God is charity*; and he who attempts to explain His definition in words is like a blind man measuring the sand in the deep sea.

^B Charity in its nature and quality is a likeness to God, insofar as mortals can attain to it. In its efficacy, it is a kind of ecstasy of the soul; in its proper character, it is the fountain of faith, an abyss of long-suffering, a sea of humility. Charity is properly the total renunciation of every contrary thought; for *charity thinketh no evil*. Charity and stillness of soul and the adoption of the children of God differ only in name; just as light and fire and flame combine into one action, understand the same concerning these things. According to the measure of one’s deficiency, there also exists fear; for he who is without fear is either filled with charity or is dead in soul. It would not be out of place if I were to present examples and images of the fear, desire, diligence, ^C emulation, servitude, and love of God from human actions. Blessed is he who is borne toward God with such love as a mad lover feels toward his beloved. Blessed is he who fears the Lord as those who are condemned fear the judge; blessed is he who has reached such diligence in true zeal as faithful servants do toward their own master. Blessed is he who has become such a zealot in virtues as those who remain sober out of jealousy for their own spouses. Blessed is he who stands before the Lord in prayer as servants stand before a king ^D. Blessed is he who struggles without ceasing to propitiate the Lord with his worship, just as other men strive to win over their fellow men. A son of charity is by nature always accustomed to cling to the Lord, not even as a mother clings to a nursing infant. He who truly loves always imagines the face of the beloved present to him, and within his heart he embraces it with pleasure, so that even in sleep he cannot rest from his desire, but even in that state he is carried toward the object of his love. Therefore, as is wont to happen in bodily things, so it is also wont to happen in spiritual things. A person wounded by this dart of love said, something which I myself marvel at: *I sleep because of the necessity of nature, but my heart keeps watch because of the abundance of love*. Note, you who are of the faith, that when the soul is pierced by the fear of the *seraphic* fire (if one may say so) of the Lord, then it longs and faints, as if struck by Him. For the...

operation of hunger is something hidden and unremarkable, but that of thirst is urgent and manifest, and signifies the burning to all; hence he who longs for God says, *My soul has thirsted for the living God* (Ps. XLI, 3). If the face of one who is loved visibly changes us entirely and makes us cheerful, joyful, and free from sorrow, what would not the face of the Lord do, when it is invisibly present in a pure soul? Fear, when it arises from true feeling of soul, is naturally apt to wash away and consume all filth. *Pierce*, he says, *my flesh with thy fear* (Ps. CXVIII, 120). But holy love is wont to consume some, as he said, *Thou hast wounded our heart, thou hast wounded* (Cant. IV, 9). Others, however, it illuminates and makes them exult. For of Him he says, *My heart has hoped and I have been helped, and my flesh has blossomed again* (Ps. XXVII, 7). And when the heart is exhilarated, the face flourishes.

When finally the whole man is, as it were, infused and ^B mingled with the love of God, his soul then manifests its brightness as if through a mirror, even while in the body; thus was Moses, that beholder of God, glorified. They who have attained to such an angelic state often forget bodily food, and I believe they do not even desire it frequently. Nor is it to be wondered at, since often a contrary desire drives away food; I suppose that, as for these incorruptible ones, the body is no longer even ailing as it happens to be, for it has been sanctified and in a way made incorruptible by the flame of purity that has extinguished the flame of the body (7), nor do I think they accept the food that is offered with any pleasure thereafter. For just as subterranean water is wont to feed the root of a plant, so does celestial fire feed the souls of these. The increase of divine fear is the beginning of charity, but the end of chastity is the foundation of theology. He whose senses have been perfectly united with God is instructed by God Himself in the words of God; for if these are not joined, it is difficult to speak about God. The indwelling Word makes chastity perfect, bringing death to death itself by His presence; once this is abolished, the student of theology is illuminated. The Word of the Lord, which remains pure from the Lord unto eternity; for he who does not know God speaks ^C about divine things only by conjecture (8). Chastity makes a disciple a theologian, who through it has himself grasped the dogmas of the Trinity of the three. He who loves the Lord has first loved his brother. For the latter is the proof of the former. He who loves his neighbor will never endure those who speak evil; he will flee from them as from fire itself. He who says he loves the Lord and is angry with his brother is like one who runs in his sleep. The power of love is hope, for through it we await the reward of love. Hope is the wealth of hidden riches; hope is a treasure before the treasure; this is a rest from labors, this is the door of love, this destroys despair, this gives courage to those ^D who have fallen.

^A Labors are bound to this, toils depend on it; mercy encircles it. A monk full of hope stifles sloth and, with the sword of this hope, puts it to flight. Experience of the gifts of the Lord begets hope; for the infinite cannot remain without doubt. Hope dissolves anger; for it does not disappoint, but an angry man is not seemly. The absence of hope is the disappearance of love. ^B Love is the guide to prophecy; love is the producer of miracles; love is the abyss of illumination. Love is a fountain of fire; the more it gushes forth, the more it inflames the thirsty soul; love is the standing of the angels; love is the progress of the ages. Tell us, O most fair among virtues, where you pasture your sheep, where you lie down at noon? Illumine us, irrigate us, lead us, and guide us, since we desire to ascend to you. For you rule over all. But now you have wounded my heart, and I cannot contain your flame; whence shall I take the beginning of praising you? I am all on fire. But you rule over the power of the sea, and you soothe and calm the tumult of its waves. You humble the proud thought as if it were a wounded man; with the arm of your power you have scattered your enemies, and you make those who love you unconquerable. ^C But how Jacob saw you resting upon the ladder, I desire to know. Explain to one who asks eagerly what the form of this ascent was. What is the mode, what the pledge, and what the reward of that ladder, composed of the steps which your lover has set in his heart for his ascents? I wanted, furthermore, to know the number of these ascents, and in how much time that course or ascent is completed. For the one who learned of your struggle and vision with the angel designated the leaders; for he wished to declare nothing else, or rather (if it must be spoken truly and properly, as is fitting) he could not. But she, appearing to me as if from heaven—this queen, I say—spoke this into the ear of my soul: "Unless you are first released, O lover, from this bodily concretion, you cannot behold my beauty as it is. But let the ladder, upon whose top and summit I rest, teach you the spiritual composition and order of the virtues, just as that great initiate and teacher of mysteries has testified. Now there remain these three, faith, hope, love; but the greatest of these is love." ^D

A brief exhortation which summarizes all that has been said at greater length above.

^A in your hearts, and listen to the voice of him who says: "Come, let us ascend to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of our God," who makes our feet like hinds' feet, and sets us upon high places, so that we may be victorious on his way. Run, I beseech you, run with him who said: "Let us make haste until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ," who, being thirty years of age in the body that was seen when he was baptized, obtained the thirtieth step in the spiritual ladder: since God is love, to whom is praise, to whom is dominion, to whom is strength; to whom is the cause of all good things, and who is, and was, and shall be, to endless ages. Amen.

SCHOLIA ON STEP XXX

Concerning faith, hope, and love.

Scholion 1.

Scholion 2.

Scholion 3.

Scholion 4.

Scholion 5.

Scholion 6.

Scholion 7.

^A Scholion 8. The spiritual word fills the sense of the mind with the hope of certain salvation; for the power of charity proceeds from God. Wherefore our mind remains unmoved in theological questions or doubts; nor does it suffer any lack that might cause it anxiety, when it is expanded through contemplations as much as the power of charity wills. It is good, therefore, for him who is fervent and moved by charity to persevere always in faith. For nothing is more poverty-stricken than a mind that wishes to philosophize about divine things while it itself lacks God.

Diadochi 9. There is one charity of the soul that is natural, and another that is instilled into it by the Holy Spirit. That which is in us, when we wish, is moved moderately according to our will, and consequently it is not difficult ^B for it to be withdrawn from its purpose by evil spirits, unless it is forcibly restrained by us. But that divine charity so inflames the soul toward the love of God that it binds and agglutinates all parts and faculties of the soul among themselves through the goodness of heavenly desire, with a certain infinite simplicity or sincerity of affection. For the mind, having become, as it were, pregnant with heavenly grace and virtue by the Holy Spirit, pours forth a certain fountain of charity and joy.

Scholion 10. *Eranos* is a collection that consists of money contributed by many. But in the present place, it signifies a collection gathered and formed from many virtues.

Scholion 11. By angels, he understands those who are ^C on the ladder.

Scholion 12. This is God, who is charity.

Scholion 13. Question. What is the perfection of the many fruits of the Holy Spirit? Answer. When someone is found worthy of the perfect charity of God. Question. From what does one know that he has reached this? Answer. When the remembrance of God is stirred in his mind, his heart is immediately moved to the love of God, and his eyes overflow with a rich fountain of tears. For it is the nature of charity to kindle tears immediately from the memory of beloved things. And he who has arrived at such a state is never destitute of tears, because there is never a lack of matter and causes ^D that stir him to the remembrance of God, so much so that he converses with God even in his sleep; for charity is accustomed to bring about such things. And this is the perfection of mortals in this life.

OF JOHN SCHOLASTICUS. TO THE PASTOR. TREATISE.

PREFACE.

Scholion of Marcus the Monk.

CHAPTER I.

He is indeed a true and genuine pastor who can, through his own diligence and prayer, seek out and restore the flock that is not lacking in reason, but is lost through simplicity. He is a helmsman [navarchus] who, by the power of understanding and the capacity for prudence received from God, and by his own practice and study, can preserve the ship not only from the decuman waves, but can also snatch it from the very depths of the abyss. He is a physician who, being sound and healthy in soul and body, requires no medicines from elsewhere for himself. He is a teacher who has received the volume of intelligence and knowledge, written by God, or rather illuminated by heavenly light and instruction, directly from that same Divine Power by himself, and is in no need of foreign erudition or books. It is shameful for a master to deliver lessons from transcribed pages; it is shameful for a painter to copy his own work from the tablets of others. He who teaches those below, ^D teaches from above, from the height, and instructs the other by sensible form; do not forget Him who says: "My teaching is not from men, nor through men."