Chapters on Charity

OF OUR HOLY FATHER ABBA MAXIMUS, CHAPTERS ON CHARITY. PROLOGUE TO ELPIDIUS.

^A Behold, alongside my discourse on the Ascetic Life, I have sent to your Honor, Father Elpidius, this discourse on Charity, consisting of a hundred chapters, a number equal to the four Gospels. It is perhaps not worthy of your expectations, but it is certainly not inferior to the capacity of my own intellect. Yet, let your Holiness know that not even these are the offspring of my own mind; rather, having examined and sifted through the books and discourses of the holy Fathers, and having gathered from them the thoughts pertinent to the subject, I have drawn them together to form these chapters, so that they might be easily surveyed and easily remembered; and thus I sent them to your Holiness, beseeching you to read them with a favorable mind, and to seek only the spiritual benefit contained within them. As for the lack of elegance in the language, do not notice it; and pray for my mediocrity, which is empty of all spiritual grace. I also ask this: do not consider what is written here to be an annoyance. For I have merely fulfilled a command. I say this because there are many today who annoy people with words, but very few who teach by their deeds, or who are themselves taught by them. Rather, apply yourself with diligence to every one of the chapters. For not everything, I suspect, is easily understood by everyone; many things require much discussion for the many, even if they appear to be stated quite simply. ^B Perhaps something useful for the soul may be found, revealed therein. And it will certainly appear by the grace of God to one who reads it with simple thoughts and with the fear of God and with charity. As for the man who does not approach it for the sake of spiritual benefit, this work…

^A will yield nothing useful, but will rather expose the critic, who aims to show himself wiser than the author out of empty conceit, as someone who will never find anything of profit from any source whatsoever.

SAINT MAXIMUS. First Century of Chapters on Charity.

1. Charity is a good disposition of the soul, by which one prefers nothing of existing things to the knowledge of God. It is impossible, however, for one who has an attachment to any of the earthly things to attain the habit of this charity.

2. Charity ^B is born of dispassion; dispassion, of hope in God; hope, of patience and long-suffering; these, of self-mastery; self-mastery, of the fear of God; and fear, of faith in the Lord.

3. He who believes in the Lord fears punishment; he who fears punishment keeps himself from the passions; he who keeps himself from the passions bears adversities patiently; he who bears adversities patiently will have hope in God; hope in God separates the mind from every earthly attachment; and when the mind is separated from these, it will possess charity towards God.

4. He who loves God ^C prefers the knowledge of Him to all things created by Him, and through longing, keeps himself unceasingly occupied with it.

5. If all things that exist have come to be through God and for the sake of God, and God is incomparably better than the things which have come to be through Him, he who abandons God, who is incomparably better, and busies himself with inferior things, shows that he prefers the things created through Him to God Himself.

6. He who has his mind fastened upon charity towards God slights all visible things, and even his own body, as something foreign.

7. If the soul is better than the body ^D and God, who created the world, is incomparably better than the world, then he who prefers the body to the soul, and the world created by God to God Himself, differs in no way from those who worship idols.

8. He who has withdrawn his mind from charity towards God and from the presence of God, and has it bound to any of the sensible things, is one who prefers the body to the soul and the things created by God to God the Creator.

9. If the light of knowledge is the life of the mind, and charity towards God brings this forth, it is well said that there is nothing greater than divine charity.

10. When the mind has departed in its longing for the love of God, it then has no perception whatever of itself or of any other things that exist. For, illumined by the divine and infinite light, it remains unaffected by any sense of things created by God, just as the physical eye, when the sun has risen, is affected with regard to the stars.

11. All virtues indeed contribute to the mind’s effort toward divine love, but pure prayer does this most of all. For by means of it, as if carried by the rowing of wings, the mind is borne up to God and transcends all things.

12. When the mind has been caught up by divine knowledge through charity, and, surpassing created things, has perceived the divine infinitude, then it comes, after the manner of the divine Isaiah, into a sense of its own humility out of sheer astonishment, and with deep emotion speaks the words of the prophet: ^A *Woe is me, for I am struck with compunction! For since I am a man and have unclean lips, I dwell in the midst of a people that has unclean lips; and I have seen with my eyes the King, the Lord of Sabaoth.*

13. He who loves God cannot but also love every man as himself, even if he feels ill-disposed toward the passions of those who are not yet purified. For when he sees them turn and return to a better way of life, he rejoices with an immense joy that cannot be expressed in words.

14. An impure soul is a passionate one; that is, one filled with the ^B base thoughts of cupidity and hatred.

15. He who sees in his own heart any trace of hatred toward any man whatsoever on account of any offense whatsoever, is entirely estranged from charity toward God; for love of God cannot possibly coexist with hatred or animosity taken up against a man.

16. *If you love me*, says the Lord, *you will keep my commandments.* And this, he says, is my commandment, *that you love one another.* Therefore, he who does not love his neighbor does not keep the commandment. And he who does not keep the commandment cannot love the Lord. ^C

17. Blessed is the man who has been able to love all men equally.

18. Blessed is the man who is not attached in his soul to any corruptible or transitory thing.

19. Blessed is the mind that has surpassed all existing things and delights unceasingly in the divine beauty.

20. He who makes provision for the flesh for the sake of desires, and, because of transitory things, harbors animosity against his neighbor ^D

such ^A a one serves the creature more than the Creator.

21. He who keeps his body free from pleasure and disease uses it as a fellow-servant for the ministry of virtue.

22. He who flees all worldly desires makes himself superior to all worldly sorrow.

23. He who loves God also loves his neighbor absolutely. Such a one cannot hoard wealth, but dispenses it in a God-befitting manner, providing for each of those in need.

24. He who practices almsgiving in imitation of God knows no distinction between evil and good, just and unjust, in the necessities of the body; but he distributes to all equally according to their need, even if he prefers the virtuous to the wicked on account of their good intention.

25. Just as God, being by nature good and impassible, loves all men equally as His works, but glorifies the virtuous because they have also made their knowledge their own by their intention; while He pities the wicked because of His goodness, and in this age corrects them so as to turn them back; so too, he who is good and impassible in his intention loves all men equally. The virtuous man he loves both for his nature and for his good intention, while the wicked man he loves for his nature and pities with compassion as one who is senseless and walking in darkness. ^B

26. Not only through the distribution of money is the disposition of love manifested, but much more through the sharing of the word of God and bodily service.

27. He who has sincerely renounced the things of the world and unfeignedly serves his neighbor through love, is quickly liberated from every passion and becomes a partaker of divine love and knowledge.

28. He who has acquired divine love within himself does not grow weary in following after the Lord his God, according to the divine Jeremiah; but he bears every labor, reproof, and insult ^C nobly, reckoning evil to no one at all.

29. When you are insulted by someone, or treated with contempt, then be on your guard against the reasonings of anger, lest they sever you from love through sorrow, and place you in the territory of hatred.

30. When you suffer because of an insult or dishonor, know that you have been greatly benefited; for through that dishonor, your vainglory has been cast out of you in a way consistent with God's ^D economy.

^A 31. Just as the memory of fire does not warm the body, so faith without love does not produce the illumination of knowledge in the soul.

32. Just as light draws a healthy eye toward itself, so also the knowledge of God naturally draws the pure mind toward itself through love.

33. A pure mind is that which has been separated from the darkness of ignorance and is illuminated by the divine light.

34. A pure soul is that which has been freed from passions and is constantly gladdened by divine love.

35. Affect (that is, perturbation and vice) is a movement of the soul contrary to nature.

36. Apatheia (dispassion) is a peaceful state of the soul, through which the soul becomes sluggish toward vice. ^B

37. He who has diligently acquired the fruits of love does not turn away from it, even if he suffers ten thousand evils. Let Stephen, the disciple of Christ, and those likeminded with him persuade you; and the Savior himself, who prayed to the Father on behalf of those who delivered him to death, and asked for forgiveness from Him for them, as if they were laboring under ignorance.

38. If it is the character of love to be long-suffering and kind, he who rages with anger and acts maliciously is clearly shown to be a stranger to love; and he who is a stranger to love is a stranger to God, since God is love.

39. Do not say, "We are the temple of the Lord," says the divine Jeremiah. And you, do not say, "Naked and sole faith in our Lord Jesus Christ can grant me salvation." For this cannot happen, unless you also acquire love for Him through works. As for simple faith: "Even the demons believe, and tremble."

40. The work of love is well-doing toward one's neighbor from the heart, and long-suffering, and patience, and the use of things with right reason.

41. He who loves God does not grieve, nor does he grieve against anyone on account of temporal things; but there is only one beneficial grief by which he both affects others and is affected, with which the blessed Paul was both grieved and grieved the Corinthians.

42. He who loves God lives an angelic life on earth, fasting, keeping vigils, singing psalms and praying, and always thinking good things about every human being. ^D

43. If a person struggles to obtain that which he desires, and God is better and more desirable than all good and desirable things beyond all comparison, how much diligence must we exert so that we may attain this One who is by nature good and desirable?

44. Do not defile your flesh with shameful deeds, and do not stain your soul with evil thoughts.

and the peace of God will come upon you, bringing love.

45. Afflict your flesh with fasting and wakefulness, and devote yourself unceasingly to psalmody and prayer; and the sanctification of temperance will come upon you, bringing love.

46. ^B He who has been deemed worthy of divine knowledge and has acquired its illumination through love will never be puffed up by the spirit of vainglory. But he who has not yet been deemed worthy of it is easily tossed about by it. If, therefore, such a person, in all that he does, looks toward God, doing everything for His sake, he will easily, with God’s help, escape it.

47. He who has not yet attained divine knowledge, which is energized through love, thinks highly of the things he does according to God. But he who has been deemed worthy to attain it speaks with that same disposition the words of the patriarch Abraham, which he said when he was deemed worthy of the divine appearance: “I am earth and ashes.”

48. He who fears the Lord always has humility as his companion; and through the thoughts it brings, he comes to divine love and thanksgiving. For he remembers his former way of life in the world, the various transgressions, and the temptations that have befallen him from his youth; and how the Lord delivered him from all these and transferred him from a life of passion to a life in accordance with God. And together with fear, he receives love, always giving thanks with great humility to the benefactor and governor of our lives.

49. Do not defile your mind by harboring thoughts of desire and anger, lest, having fallen away from pure prayer, you be seized by the spirit of despondency (acedia).

50. The mind falls from its boldness toward God the moment it becomes ^C familiar with evil or shameful thoughts.

51. The foolish man, driven by the passions, when he is moved by anger and becomes agitated, foolishly hastens to flee from his brothers; but when he is again warmed by desire, he repents and runs back to meet them. But the wise man does the opposite in both cases: for regarding anger, having cut out the causes of the disturbance, he frees himself from sorrow toward his brothers; and regarding desire, he remains self-controlled against its irrational impulse and association.

52. In the time of temptations, do not abandon your monastery, but bear the waves of thoughts bravely, especially those of sorrow and despondency. For thus, wisely, through tribulations [the Lord] works...

through your being tested, and you will attain a firm hope in God. If, however, you abandon [your post], you will be found unapproved, unmanly, and unstable. ^A

53. If you wish not to fall from the love that is according to God, do not let your brother sleep while grieved against you, nor may you sleep while grieved against him; but, "Go, be reconciled to your brother," and coming, offer to Christ the gift of love with a pure conscience, through fervent prayer.

54. If he who possesses all the gifts of the Spirit but does not possess love benefits nothing, according to the divine Apostle, how much diligence must we show to acquire it?

55. If love does not work evil against a neighbor, how is he who envies his brother, and is grieved at his success, and stains his reputation with taunts, or in some malice creates snares for him, not established as an alien to love and liable to eternal judgment? ^B

56. If love is the fulfillment of the law, how is he who harbors resentment against his brother, and devises tricks against him, and prays for evil to befall him, and rejoices at his fall, not a transgressor and worthy of eternal punishment?

57. If he who speaks against a brother and judges a brother speaks against and judges the law; and the law of Christ is love, how does the slanderer not fall from the love of Christ, and in doing so become the author of eternal punishment for himself? ^C

58. Do not lend your hearing to the tongue of the slanderer, nor your tongue to the hearing of the lover of gossip, willingly speaking or hearing evil against a neighbor, lest you fall from divine love and be found an alien to eternal life.

59. Do not entertain abuse against your Father, nor encourage one who dishonors him, lest the Lord be angry at your works and destroy you from the land of the living. ^D

60. Muzzle the one slandering in your presence, so that you do not become guilty of a double sin along with him: both by accustoming yourself to a destructive passion, and by failing to restrain him from prattling against his neighbor.

^A 61. I, however, say to you, the Lord says: Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; pray for those who despitefully use you. Why did He command these things? So that He might free you from hatred, and sadness, and anger, and malice; and that He might deem you worthy of the greatest possession, perfect charity, which it is impossible to have unless one loves all men equally, in imitation of God, who loves all men equally and wills for them to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

62. I, however, say to you: do not resist evil; but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also; and to him who wishes to go to law with you and take your tunic, leave him your cloak as well; and whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Why? So that He might keep you free from anger, and disturbance, and sorrow, and that he might instruct the other through your long-suffering, and draw both under the yoke of charity, as one who is good.

^B 63. Concerning whatever matters we have once been affected, we carry around the impassioned images of these things. He, therefore, who conquers impassioned images, also surely despises the things of which these are the images. For the war against the memories of things left in the mind is so much more difficult than the war against the things themselves, as it is easier to sin in the mind and by thought than by the actual deed and work.

64. Of the passions, some are corporeal, others are psychological. The corporeal ones have their origins from the body; the psychological ones arise from external things. Both, however, are cut off by charity and self-control: charity cuts off the psychological ones, and self-control the corporeal ones.

65. Some of the passions, moreover, belong to the irascible part, others to the concupiscible part of the soul. Both are moved by the senses. And they are moved precisely when the soul is found outside of charity and self-control.

^C 66. The passions of the irascible part of the soul are much harder to overcome than those of the concupiscible part. Hence, a greater remedy against it, the commandment of charity, was given by the Lord.

67. All other passions touch either the irascible part of the soul only, or the concupiscible part, or even the rational part, as do forgetfulness and ignorance; but acedia, laying hold of all the powers of the soul, moves almost all the passions simultaneously with one impulse. Therefore, it is the most burdensome of all other passions. He rightly, then, gave the remedy against it, when the Lord says: In your patience, possess your souls.

68. Do not ever strike any of your brethren ^A, especially without consulting them or without some sufficiently just cause; lest perhaps, if he cannot bear the annoyance, he withdraws himself. And see to it that you yourself never escape the reproach of conscience, which, while you are praying, brings upon you constant sorrow and drives your mind away from divine confidence.

69. Do not endure suspicions, or even men, who bring offenses against you ^B or against others. For those who in any way whatsoever accept offenses from events that happen, whether by will or apart from will, do not know the path of peace—the path that leads those who love it, through love, to the knowledge of God.

70. He has not yet attained perfect love who is variously affected by the different dispositions of men. For example, he loves one person and hates another for this or that reason; or even loves and then hates the same person for the same reasons.

71. Perfect charity

72. He who does not scorn glory and dishonor, riches and poverty, pleasure and sorrow and the pain of the soul, has not yet acquired perfect love. For perfect love not only scorns these, but even scorns this temporary life itself and death.

73. Hear what those who have been counted worthy of perfect love say: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” As it is written: “For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” But in all these things we more than conquer, through him who loved us. “For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor ^D depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

^B 74. But regarding love toward one's neighbor, hear again what [the Apostle] says: “I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit: that I have great sorrow and continual pain in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites,” and so on. Likewise also Moses, and the rest of the saints, and all the saints.

75. He who does not despise glory and pleasure, and greed, which is the nourisher of these and through which they consist, cannot cut away the pretexts of anger. And he who does not cut these away cannot attain to perfect love.

76. Humility and affliction of the body free man from all sin: the former cuts away the passions of the soul, the latter those of the body. For it is shown that blessed David performed this, when he prayed to God in these words: “Look upon my humility and my labor, and forgive all my sins.”

77. Through the commandments, the Lord renders those who perform them free from passions; but through divine dogmas, He grants them the illumination of knowledge.

78. All dogmas are either about God, or about visible and invisible things, or about the providence and judgment concerning them.

79. Almsgiving heals the irascible part of the soul; fasting withers desire; prayer purifies the mind and prepares it for the contemplation of things that are. For the Lord gave us the commandments according to the faculties of the soul.

80. “Learn from me,” he says, “for I am meek and lowly in heart,” and so on. Meekness, or gentleness, keeps the faculty of anger undisturbed; but humility frees the mind from the pride of arrogance and empty glory.

81. There are two kinds of fear of God: one is brought forth in us by the threat of punishment—through which self-control, patience, hope in God, and detachment—from which love is born—come to us in order; the other is coupled with love itself, always creating reverence in the soul, that it may not, through the boldness of love, fall into contempt for God.

82. Perfect love casts out the first fear from the soul of one who possesses it, for he no longer fears punishment; but it always keeps the second within itself, as has been said, as something coupled to it. And to the first fear applies the saying: “By the fear of the Lord one turns away from evil.” And, “The beginning of wisdom is the fear

of the Lord.” To the second, the saying: “The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever and ever.” And, “There is no want to those who fear Him.”

85. ^A *Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness*, and what follows. By “earth,” he designated the discernment of the flesh. By “fornication,” he spoke of the sin that is committed in the act itself; by “uncleanness,” the consent of the mind to it; by “passion,” he named the impassioned thought; by “evil desire,” the bare acceptance of the thought of desire; by “covetousness,” he named the material that generates and increases the passion. Therefore, the divine Apostle commanded that all these, as being members of the discernment of the flesh, should be mortified.

84. ^B First, memory brings a simple thought to the mind; if this lingers, passion is stirred; if this is not removed, it bends the mind toward consent; once this has happened, it proceeds to the sin that is committed in the act and deed itself. Therefore the most wise Apostle, writing to the Gentiles, commands that the effect of sin be removed first; then, by retracing the steps in order, he commands ultimately arriving at the cause. The cause is that which generates and increases the passion, as has been said before—covetousness (whether you call it greed or the appetite for having more). However, I believe that by this word here, gluttony is signified, as existing as the mother and nurse of fornication. For covetousness, ^C and greed thus defined as exceeding the just measure, is evil not only regarding money, but also regarding food. Just as temperance or abstinence and sobriety are good and praiseworthy not only regarding food but also regarding money.

85. Just as a sparrow that has begun to fly while its foot is tied is dragged down to the earth by a string, so too the mind, not yet having obtained freedom from passions and being free from affections, while flying toward the knowledge of heavenly things, is dragged down to the earth by the passions that weigh it down.

86. When the mind has been completely liberated from the passions, it then proceeds ^D irrevocably toward the contemplation of beings, making its journey toward the knowledge of the Holy Trinity.

87. Being pure, the mind, receiving the concepts of things, is moved toward their spiritual contemplation; but when it has become unclean through sloth, it forms bare concepts of the remaining things; yet, while handling human affairs, it repeatedly turns itself into shameful or evil thoughts.

^A 88. When, during the time of prayer, no thoughts of the world disturb the mind, then know that you are not outside the borders of dispassion.

89. When the soul begins to perceive its own health, then it also begins to see the visions in its dreams as bare and free from disturbance.

90. Just as the beauty of visible things attracts the physical eye, so the knowledge of invisible things attracts the pure mind to itself. By invisible, I mean the spirits, that is, those that are incorporeal.

91. It is a great thing not to be affected by things, but it is far greater to remain dispassionate toward their images. For the war that the demons wage against us through conceptualizations ^B is more grievous than the war waged through the things themselves.

92. He who has attained the virtues and, through knowledge, has become so rich that he can look upon things according to their nature, both acts and speaks in all matters according to right reason, without being misled in any way. For it is by whether we use things reasonably or unreasonably that we become either virtuous or wicked.

93. A sign of extreme dispassion is that bare concepts of things always rise up in the heart, both when the body is awake and during sleep.

94. By the practice of the commandments, the mind strips itself of passions; by the spiritual contemplation of visible things, it strips itself of the passionate concepts of things; by the knowledge of invisible things, ^C it strips itself of the contemplation of visible things; and finally, by the knowledge of the Holy Trinity, it [strips itself also of the knowledge of invisible things].

95. Just as the sun, rising and illuminating the world, reveals both itself and the things illuminated by it; so too the Sun of Justice, rising upon the pure mind, reveals both Himself and the essences of all things that have been or will be created by Him.

96. We do not know God from His essence, but from the magnitude of His works and His providence over existing things. For through these, as if through mirrors, we perceive His infinite goodness, wisdom, and power.

97. The pure mind is found either in the bare ^D thoughts and concepts of human affairs, or in the natural contemplation of visible or invisible things, or finally, it dwells in the light of the Holy Trinity.

98. When the mind is engaged in the contemplation of visible things, it either investigates their natural essences, or what is signified by them, or it seeks out their very Cause.

99. When it is engaged in the contemplation of invisible things, it seeks their natural essences, the cause of their creation, and the things that follow from these. And what providence and judgment exist concerning the spirits.

100. When it has entered into God, it [seeks] concerning the essence...

burning with desire, seeks the reasons of His essence ^A, yet he does not find them in that which He is—for the satisfaction of his desire—(for this is impossible, and excluded for every created nature alike); but he finds solace in those things that are around Him—I mean, those concerning His eternity, His infinity, and His indefiniteness; concerning His goodness, His wisdom, and His power, which is creative, providential, and judicial over all beings. And this is the only thing concerning Him that is wholly comprehensible: His infinity, and even this: to know nothing, and to know what is above the mind, as the theologians, Gregory and Dionysius, have somewhere said.

BY THE SAME

Second Century on Love

1. He who truly loves God, this man also prays ^B in every way without distraction; and he who prays in every way without distraction, this man truly loves God. But he does not pray without distraction, whoever has his mind fixed upon any of the earthly things; therefore, he does not love God, whoever has his mind bound to any earthly things.

2. The mind lingering upon a sensible object necessarily has a passion toward it, such as desire, or grief, or anger, or malice; and unless it scorns that object, it cannot be freed from that passion.

3. The passions of the mind, having gained the upper hand, bind it to material things and make it act in them, ^C distancing it from God. But the love of God, once it has prevailed, loosens it from these bonds, persuading us to despise not only those things which we perceive by the senses, but also this passing life of ours.

4. The work of the commandments is to make the thoughts of things simple; but the work of reading and contemplation is to render the mind immaterial and formless. ^D

^A

5. The way of active practice is not enough to free the mind perfectly from the passions, so that it might be able to pray without distraction, unless diverse spiritual contemplations also follow. For practice frees the mind only from incontinence and hatred, while contemplations free it from forgetfulness and ignorance; being set free and delivered from these, one will be able to pray as is required. ^B

6. There are two supreme states of pure prayer: one appropriate for those in the active life, the other for those who study contemplation. The first comes to the soul from the fear of God and good hope; the second is brought forth by love of God and utmost purity. The marks of the first method are: to collect the mind from all worldly thoughts and, as though God is present to it (as He truly is), to pray without distraction and without the agitation of any interfering wandering thoughts. The marks of the second are: to have the mind caught up during the very impulse of prayer by the divine and infinite light, and to have no perception at all of oneself or of any other beings, but only of Him who through love works such illumination within it. Then, even when moved during reflections regarding God, it receives clear and distinct representations of Him. ^C

7. He who loves, also clings firmly to that which he loves; and he scorns all things that hinder him in this, so that he may not be deprived of it. Thus, he who loves God is diligent in pure prayer, and casts out from himself every passion that hinders him in this.

8. He who has cast away self-love, the mother of the passions, easily lays aside the rest as well, with God’s help: for instance, anger, sadness, resentment, and the things that follow. But he who is overcome by the former is, whether he likes it or not, wounded by the latter. Self-love is the passion of attachment to the body. ^D

9. For these five reasons men love one another, whether praiseworthy or blameworthy. For instance: either for the sake of God, as the virtuous man loves all, and as he loves the virtuous man even if he is not yet virtuous himself; or by nature, as parents love children, and vice versa; or because of vainglory, as when the person being praised loves the one who praises him; or because of avarice, as when one loves a rich man for the sake of receiving gifts; or because of love of pleasure, such as one who indulges the belly and what is below the belly. And the first is praiseworthy, the second is intermediate, and the remaining ones are passionate.

10. If you hate some people, and do not even love or hate others, but love some with moderation, and love still others very intensely, then from this inequality

and from the partiality of your disposition, know that you are far from perfect charity, which teaches you to love all men equally.

11. ^A Decline from evil, and do good. That is to say: Fight against your enemies, so that you may diminish the passions; then stay sober, so that they may not increase. And again: Fight, so that you may acquire the virtues; and then stay sober, so that you may preserve them. And this is what it means to work and to keep.

12. ^B Those who tempt us by the permission of God, either inflame the concupiscible part of the soul, or trouble its irascible part, or darken the rational part, or afflict the body with pains, or plunder our worldly goods.

13. ^C Demons tempt us either by themselves, or by arming against us those who do not fear the Lord. By themselves, when we live apart and separated from the company of men, just as they did with the Lord in the desert; but through men, when we live in the company of others, just as they did with the Lord through the Pharisees. But let us, keeping our Exemplar before our eyes, repel them on both counts.

14. When the mind begins to progress in the love of God, then the demon of blasphemy begins to tempt it; and he suggests to it such thoughts as no man, but only the devil, the father and fabricator of them, could ever invent. He does this because he is envious of the one who loves God, so that, brought to despair by having thought such things, the person may no longer dare to fly to God through his accustomed prayer. But the wretched one gains nothing from this for his own purpose; rather, he makes us all the more steadfast. For when we are provoked by the battle, and we ourselves join the battle and struggle back, we are found to be more proven and more genuine in the love of God. May his sword enter into his own heart, and may his bows be broken.

15. ^D The mind, applying itself to visible things, naturally perceives reality through the medium of the senses. And neither is the mind evil, nor is natural perception evil, nor are the objects themselves, nor the sense of perception; for these are the works of God. What, then, is evil? Clearly, it is the passion of the natural thought, which can be avoided in the use of thoughts, if the mind remains vigilant.

16. Passion is a movement of the soul contrary to nature.

or toward irrational love, or toward hatred without judgment, whether for some thing, or because of something falling into the senses. For example, regarding irrational love: of foods, or a woman, or money, or passing glory, or anything else of the sensible world, or because of these. And regarding hatred without judgment: for example, toward any of the things mentioned above, as has been said, or toward someone because of these.

17. ^B Again, vice is a mistaken judgment of thoughts, which is followed by the abuse of things. For example, in the case of a woman, the right judgment of intercourse is the purpose of procreation. He, therefore, who looks toward pleasure has been mistaken in his judgment, having esteemed the evil as good. Such a person, therefore, abuses sexual intercourse. And likewise concerning other things and thoughts.

18. When ^C the demons, having cast your mind out from temperance, surround you with thoughts of fornication, then with tears say to the Master: Surrounded me, they have now encompassed me; deliver me, O my Exultation, from those who surround me; and you shall be saved.

19. Heavy is the demon of fornication, and he attacks violently those who struggle against the passion; and most especially when there is carelessness in diet, and in encounters with women. For, secretly stealing the mind with the smoothness of pleasure, he afterward attacks it through memory while it is at rest, inflaming the body and presenting varied forms to the mind. Therefore, he also calls it to the consent of sin; so if you do not wish it to linger within you, take up fasting, and labor, and vigil, and holy stillness along with fervent prayer.

20. ^D Those who are always seeking our soul, seek it through passionate thoughts, that they may cast it into sin in the mind, or by action. When, therefore, they find the mind not accepting them, they will be ashamed and abashed; but when they find it occupied in spiritual contemplation, then they will turn and be ashamed very quickly.

21. He holds the place of a deacon who anoints the mind for sacred struggles and drives the passionate thoughts away from it; but he holds the place of a presbyter who enlightens it with the knowledge of things that are, and who proscribes the knowledge falsely so-called.

SECOND CENTURY OF CHAPTERS ON CHARITY

and as a bishop (episcopus), the one who perfects with the holy ointment of the knowledge of the adorable and holy Trinity.

22. The demons are weakened when the passions within us are diminished by the keeping of the commandments; but they perish when, through the soul’s impassibility, they are utterly destroyed, no longer finding the things by which they once found a foothold in it and waged war against it. And this might be that which is said: "They shall be weakened, and shall perish from thy countenance."

23. Some men abstain from the passions because of human fear; others because of vainglory; others again for the sake of continence; and others are freed from the passions by the terror of divine judgments.

24. All the words of the Lord contain these four things: the commandments, the dogmas, the threats, and the promises. We endure every hardship of a rigorous life because of these; for example, fasts, vigils, sleeping on the ground, labors and toils in service, insults, dishonors, tortures, deaths, and the like. For, as it is written: "Because of the words of thy lips, I have kept hard ways."

25. The reward of continence is impassibility; that of faith is knowledge. Impassibility begets discernment, while knowledge begets love for God.

26. When the mind practices the active life, it progresses toward prudence; but when it practices contemplation, it progresses toward knowledge. For it is the task of the former to bring the one who is struggling to the discernment of virtue and vice; the task of the latter, however, to lead the one who participates in it to the reasons for spirits and bodies. A man is deemed worthy of theological grace only when, having overcome all the things previously mentioned through the wings of love, and having become in God, he contemplates the discourse concerning Him through the Spirit, so far as it is possible for a human mind to do so.

27. When you are about to theologize, do not seek the reasons concerning Him—for no human mind can ever investigate them, nor can any other mind of those things that are secondary to God—but observe, as far as it is possible, the things that are around Him: for instance, those concerning eternity, infinity, and immensity, as well as goodness, wisdom, and power, by which He created all things, provides for them, and governs them with judgment. For he is a great theologian among mortals who has discovered the reasons for these, at least to some small extent.

28. That man is powerful who has yoked knowledge to action. For through the former, he mortifies desire and calms anger; through the latter, he gives wings to his mind and departs toward God.

29. When the Lord says: "I and the Father are one," He signifies the sameness of essence. But when He says again: "I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me,"

^A He manifests the indivisible conjunction of the persons. Therefore, the Tritheites, who separate the Son from the Father, fall into a precipice on both sides. For either, while teaching that the Son is coeternal with the Father, yet separating Him from Him, they are compelled to say that He was not born from Him, and thus end up saying there are three Gods and three principles; or, while stating that He was born from Him, yet separating Him, they are compelled to say that He is not coeternal with the Father, and to subject the Author of the ages to time. For it is necessary that we maintain the one God, and confess the three persons, as is the opinion of the great Gregory, and each one with its own property. For, as he thinks, "they are divided, but indivisibly; and they are connected, but discretely; so that the discretion may be new, and the union also." Otherwise, what is there new and unusual in the fact that the Son is thus united to the Father and separated from Him, just as man is united to man and separated from him, and nothing more? ^B

30. He who is perfect in love, and has arrived at the summit of passionlessness, does not know the distinction between one's own and another's, or of one's own property and another's, or of believer and unbeliever, or of slave and free, or in general of male and female; but having become superior to the tyranny of the passions, and looking to the one nature of men, he views all equally, and is disposed equally toward all. For there is in him neither Greek nor Jew, neither male nor female, neither slave nor free; but Christ is all and in all.

31. From the passions subject to the soul, ^C the demons take the opportunities to stir up in us lascivious thoughts. Then, through these, warring against the mind, they force it to come to the consent of sin. But when it has been overcome, they lead it to the sin that is in the thought. And when this has been accomplished, they finally lead it as a captive into the act. But after this, those who have desolated the soul through the thoughts depart with them. There remains in the mind only the empty idol of sin, concerning which the Lord says: "When you see the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place, let him who reads understand"; ^D for the holy place and temple of God is the mind of man, in which the demons, having desolated the soul through lascivious thoughts, have set up the idol of sin. That these things have already occurred historically, no one, I believe, who has read the books written by Josephus, doubts. There are some, however, who say that these same things will occur again at the time of the Antichrist.

32. There are three things that move us toward good: natural seeds, the holy Powers, and the good will. And the natural seeds, as when...

we wish that men should do unto us, ^A and we likewise do unto them; or as when we see someone in distress or necessity, and naturally, by instinct, we take pity on him. The holy Powers, as when we are moved toward a good deed, and we find good cooperation and succeed. And the good will, as when, discerning the good from the evil, we choose that which is good.

33. There are again three things that move us toward evil: the passions, the demons, and the evil will. And the passions, as when we desire a thing contrary to reason; for example, food past the opportune time or beyond necessity, or a woman for a purpose other than the procreation of children, or one who is not a lawful spouse. And again, when we become angry or sad beyond what is fitting; for example, against someone who has insulted or injured us. The demons, as when, during our negligence, they watch for an opportunity and suddenly attack us with great violence, ^B inciting the aforementioned passions and the like. And the evil will, as when, knowing what is honest and dutiful, we choose the evil instead.

34. The rewards for the labors of virtue are dispassion and knowledge. For these become providers of the kingdom of heaven; just as the passions and ignorance become providers of eternal punishment. Therefore, he who seeks these for the sake of human glory, and not for the sake of the good itself, hears from Scripture: Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss.

35. There are many things that are naturally good when done by men, but are not good again for a certain reason; for example, fasting and vigil, prayer and psalmody, almsgiving and hospitality are by nature good works; but when they are done for [the sake of] vainglory, they are no longer good. ^C

36. God seeks the purpose of all things that are done by us, whether we do them for His sake or for another reason.

37. When you hear from Scripture: For thou wilt render to every man according to his works; take care not to understand it in such a way that God rewards as good those things done without a right purpose, even if they seem good and honest; but rather, surely, those things which are done with a right purpose. For the judgment of God does not attend to the things that are done, but to their end and purpose.

38. The demon of pride has a twofold wickedness: for he persuades the monk to ascribe the successes to himself, and not to God, who is both the bestower of good things and a helper in performing the works of virtue; or, ^D if he does not obey [him], he suggests that he should despise those of the brothers who are still less perfect. But he is ignorant that

^A he is being worked upon, in that he allows himself to be persuaded to deny the help of God. For if he despises them as having been unable to accomplish [the works of virtue], he clearly implies that he himself accomplished them by his own power. This is impossible, as the Lord says: "Without me you can do nothing." For our infirmity, when moved toward good things, cannot lead them to an end without the Provider of good things.

39. He who has come to know the infirmity of human nature has received a test of divine power; and such a one, having accomplished some things through it, and hurrying to accomplish others, never despises any man. ^B For he knows that, just as God helped him and freed him from many grave passions and vices, so He is also able to help all when He wills, and especially those who are struggling for His sake; even if, by certain judgments, He does not free everyone without exception from their passions—but at the proper times, as a kind and humane physician, He heals each of those who are striving.

40. Upon the inactivity of the passions, pride supervenes, whether from latent causes or from demons withdrawing craftily.

41. Almost every sin is committed for the sake of pleasure; and its destruction comes about through hard labor and sorrow, through the imposition of the law—brought about by providence. For "if we judged ourselves," he says, "we would not be judged; but when we are judged, ^C by the Lord we are disciplined, so that we may not be condemned along with the world."

^B 42. When a temptation comes upon you unexpectedly, do not accuse the one through whom it comes, but seek the reason why it has come, and you will find correction. For whether through him or through another, you had to drink the wormwood of God’s judgments.

43. Insofar as you are perverse, do not refuse to be afflicted in the flesh, so that, humbled by its labors, you may cast out the pride of arrogance.

44. Some temptations bring pleasures, others sorrows, others bodily pains upon men. For according to the cause of the passions inherent in the soul, the physician of souls applies medicine through His judgments.

45. The onsets of temptations are brought upon some for the purging of sins already committed; upon others, for those they are currently committing; and upon others, to prevent those they are about to commit; apart from those trials that happen for the sake of probation, as in the case of Job.

46. The sensible man, considering the healing of divine judgments, bears with a tranquil mind the misfortunes that come upon him through them, reckoning no one else the author of these things than his own sins. But the foolish and senseless man, ignorant of the most wise providence of God, while he sins and is disciplined, refers the cause of his evils either to God ^C or to men.

47. There are some things that restrain the movement of the passions and do not allow them to increase; and there are others that diminish them and lead them to decrease. For example, fasting, labor, and vigils do not allow desire to increase; but solitude, contemplation, prayer, and love for God diminish it and cause it to vanish. Likewise also regarding anger; for example, long-suffering, forgetfulness of injuries, and gentleness hold it steady and do not allow it to increase; but charity, almsgiving, kindness, and sweetness of character and humanity lead it to decrease.

48. Whoever has his mind always toward God, his desire also has grown into divine love; and his anger has been transformed entirely into divine charity. For through the long-continued commerce of divine love, having become wholly luminous, and binding more tightly to himself his own passible part, he converts it into the divine, incessant, ^D as it is said, and never-ending charity, bringing it over entirely from earthly things to the divine.

49. He who is not envious, not angry, and does not remember wrongs against the one who has offended him, does not necessarily already have love for him. For it is possible for one not yet loving...

^A to not reward evil with evil, because such is the commandment; but not yet, in all respects, to reward evil with good. For to do good from the heart to those who hate us belongs only to perfect spiritual charity.

50. He who does not love someone does not necessarily already hate him; and conversely, he who does not hate, does not necessarily already love; but he can be in a middle state toward him, that is, so disposed in his heart as neither to love nor to hate. For five manners of the affection of love, which I have recounted in the ninth chapter of this hundred, are naturally productive of those that are praiseworthy, those that are of the middle state, and those that are blameworthy.

51. When you see your mind ^B gladly absorbed in material things and dwelling on their notions, know that you love these more than God. "Where your treasure is," says the Lord, "there will also be your heart."

52. The mind, being joined to God and remaining with Him through prayer and love, becomes wise, good, powerful, philanthropic, merciful, and patient; and to speak simply, it bears within itself almost all divine attributes. But when it departs from this, and attaches itself to material things, it becomes either bestial, having become a lover of pleasure, or savage, and for this reason, it wages war and strife with men.

53. Scripture calls material things the world; and those who ^C occupy their mind in these are worldly, to whom it also says more sternly: "Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. The concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life, are not of God, but are of the world," and what follows.

54. A monk is he who has abstracted his mind from material things, and who through continence, love, psalmody, and prayer is assiduous toward God.

55. He is a shepherd of cattle in an intellectual sense who is practical; for moral virtues hold the status of cattle; therefore Jacob said: "Men who are ^D shepherds of cattle are your servants." A shepherd of sheep, however, is one who is contemplative. For thoughts hold the status of sheep, which are pastured by the mind on the mountains of contemplations. Therefore it is also said: "Every shepherd of sheep is an abomination to the Egyptians," that is, to the adverse powers.

56. The bad mind, as the body is moved through the senses toward its own desires and pleasures, follows along and assents to its mental images and impulses; but the virtuous one restrains himself and holds himself back from passionate mental images and impulses, and instead philosophizes, striving to compose such movements of his toward a better fruit.

^A(57) Of the virtues, some are bodily, others are soulful. Bodily ones are, for example, fasting, vigils, sleeping on the ground, service, manual labor so as not to be a burden to anyone or in order to give to others, and so on. Soulful ones are, for example, love, long-suffering, meekness, self-restraint, prayer, and so on. If, then, due to some necessity or bodily circumstance—such as illness or something of that kind—it happens that we are unable to perform the aforementioned bodily virtues, we have forgiveness from the Lord, who also judges the causes. But if we do not perform the soulful ones, we shall have no excuse; for they are not subject to necessity.

^B(58) Love toward God persuades the one who possesses it to despise every passing pleasure and every toil and grief. Let all the saints, who have suffered so much for Christ, be your witnesses.

(59) Watch yourself against the mother of evils, self-love, which is the irrational love of the body. For from this, in a seemingly plausible way, are born the first and most passionate and most general three frenzied thoughts: those of gluttony, I say, and avarice and vainglory, which take their pretexts from the supposedly necessary needs of the body; from these is born the entire catalog of evils. One must therefore, as has been said, watch out necessarily and fight against this with great sobriety. For if this is removed, all the evils that arise from it are necessarily removed as well.

^C(60) The passion of self-love suggests to the monk that he should be merciful to his body and exceed what is proper in his meals, under the pretext of economy and stewardship, so that, by being drawn in little by little, he may fall into the pit of self-indulgence. As for the worldly man, it forthwith persuades him to provide for the flesh in its desires.

(61) They say that the highest state of prayer is for the mind to become outside the flesh and the world, and to be entirely immaterial and without form while praying. Whoever, therefore, keeps this state unharmed is the one who truly prays without ceasing.

^D(62) Just as the body, when dying, withdraws from all the affairs and businesses of life, so too the mind, in the state of sublime prayer, dying, withdraws from all the thoughts of the world. For if it does not…

^A die as to this kind of death, it cannot be with God and live. [65.] Let no one deceive you, monk, that it is possible for you to attain salvation while enslaved to pleasure and vainglory. [64.] Just as the body sins through physical things, and has for its discipline the virtues that pertain to the body, so that it may be chastened: so too the mind, through the incursion of passionate thoughts, has likewise ^B for its discipline the virtues of the soul, by which, beholding things cleanly and impassively, it is composed in sober fruitfulness. [65.] Just as nights succeed days, and winters summers: so to vainglory and pleasure follow sadness and pain, whether in the present life or in the future. [66.] It is not possible for one who has sinned to escape the judgment to come, without voluntary labors undertaken here, or evils brought upon one which one bears patiently. [67.] They say there are five reasons why we are permitted to be attacked by demons. The first, they say, is so that, being attacked and struggling in return, we may acquire the discernment of virtue and vice. The second, so that through war and labor we may keep the virtue we have gained firm and unshakable. The third, ^C so that, progressing in virtue, we may not be high-minded, but learn to be humble. The fourth, so that, having had experience of vice, we may hate it with a perfect hatred. The fifth and final reason, so that, having attained the tranquility of an untroubled soul, we may not forget our own weakness, nor become unmindful of the power of Him who has been our helper. [68.] Just as the mind of a hungry man imagines bread, and of a thirsty man water, so too the mind of a glutton imagines a variety of dishes; the lover of pleasure, the forms of women; the vainglorious, the honors and praises of men; the avaricious, gains; the resentful, the vengeance of the one who offended him; the envious, the misfortune of the one envied; and likewise for the remaining passions. For the mind, burdened by these and dulled by them, assumes passionate thoughts, whether the body is awake or in sleep. [69.] ^D Once concupiscence is increased, the mind in sleep forms those things which create pleasure and desire. When anger is increased, it sees terrifying things. Yet the passions and perturbations are increased as impure demons, taking advantage of our own negligence, seize upon and incite them. But the holy angels diminish them, moving us to perform the works of virtue. [70.] The concupiscible power of the soul, when more frequently irritated, puts a difficult-to-move habit of pleasure into the soul; while anger, being perpetually agitated, renders the mind fearful and cowardly. They are healed and treated—the former by fasts, vigils,

and constant exercise of prayer; the latter, by kindness, benevolence, love, and mercy. ^A

71. Demons wage war either through things or through the passionate thoughts about things. Through things, they war against those who are still involved in affairs; through thoughts, against those who have withdrawn themselves from these things.

72. By as much as it is easier to sin in the mind and in thought than by the act and operation itself, by so much is the war [waged] through thoughts heavier than that [waged] through things and affairs.

73. Things themselves are outside the mind; but the thoughts of these things consist within. It is therefore in its power to use them either well or ill. For the misuse of things follows from the erroneous use of thoughts.

74. By these three things the mind receives passionate thoughts: by sense, by temperament, and by memory. By sense, when things are presented to it for which we feel a passion, they stir it toward passionate thoughts. By temperament, when—whether through a dissolute way of life, or the operation of demons, or some illness—the body’s temperament is altered and changed, it stirs [the mind] again toward passionate thoughts, or even [to speak] against Providence. By memory, when the memory brings back thoughts of the things for which we have some passion, it similarly stirs it toward passionate thoughts. ^B

75. Of the things given to us by God for use, some are in the soul, some in the body, and some are found around the body. For instance, in the soul, its faculties; in the body, the sensory organs and the remaining members; around the body, food, possessions, wealth, and such like. Thus, using these well or ill, or [using well or ill] those things that happen to these, makes us either virtuous or base. ^C

76. Of the things that happen in affairs, some belong to those in the soul, some to those in the body, and some to the things around the body. And of those in the soul, for instance: knowledge and ignorance, forgetfulness and memory, love and hatred, fear and boldness, grief and joy, and such like. Of those in the body, for instance: pleasure and pain, perception and privation, health and sickness, life and death, and suchlike. Of those around the body, for instance: skill and lack of skill, wealth and poverty, glory and ignominy, and the rest. Of these, some are considered by men as good, some as evil, though nothing in them is evil in the proper sense of their own reason. ^D

^A

77. Knowledge is good by nature; likewise also health. But for many, their opposites have been more profitable than these. For to the wicked, knowledge does not result in any good, even though by nature, as has been said, it is good; and likewise neither health, nor wealth, nor joy. For they do not use them properly, so that they might be useful to them; therefore, their opposites are profitable. Thus, it follows that those things are not evil in their own proper definition, even if they seem to be evil.

78. ^B Do not misuse your thoughts, so that you might not of necessity misuse things as well. For if one does not first sin in the mind, one will never sin in deed and in action.

79. The image of the earthly are the general vices; such as, foolishness, cowardice, intemperance, injustice. But the image of the heavenly are the general virtues; such as, prudence, fortitude, temperance, justice. "But just as we have borne the image of the earthly, let us also bear the image of the heavenly."

80. If you wish to find the way that leads to life, seek it in the Way, and there you will find it, in Him who says: "I am the way, and the life, and the truth." However, seek with great effort, because few are they who find it; and take care lest, being excluded from that small number, you be found among the many.

81. ^C For these five reasons the soul is restrained from sins: either through the fear of men, or through the fear of judgment, or through the hope of future reward, or through the love of God, or finally through the pricking of conscience.

82. There are some who say that evil would not exist in things, if there were not some other power pulling us toward it by a contrary impulse. But this is nothing other than the neglect of the natural operations of the soul's powers. Therefore, those who take care of these things always do what is good, and never what is evil. If you wish, then, you too should cast off negligence, and you will have expelled vice and malice—that is to say, the erroneous use of the mind's thoughts, to which the abuse of things ^D immediately follows as a companion.

83. It is according to the nature of the rational part within us that it be subject to the divine Word, and that it rule over the irrational part within us. Let this order, therefore, be preserved in all things, and neither will evil be in things, nor will anything be found that pulls us toward it.

84. Some of the thoughts are simple, others are composite. And those are simple which are without passion; while those are composite which are passionate, being composed of both passion and a thought. Since matters stand thus, it is possible to see many of the simple ones following the composite ones, when they begin to be moved toward sinning in the mind. For instance, as in the case of gold: a passionate thought concerning gold entered into the memory of someone; and he rushed with

^A a desire to steal, and he consummated the sin in his mind. Along with the memory of the gold, the memories of the purse, the small container, and the vault [(e)], and so forth, followed as well. And the memory of the gold was composite, since it carried the passion; but the memory of the purse, the small container, and the rest, was simple. For the intellect did not have a passion toward them. And it is the same with every thought: regarding vainglory, a woman, and the rest. For it was shown by our discourse that not all the thoughts that follow a passionate thought are themselves passionate. From these things, therefore, we can know which are the passionate thoughts and which are the simple ones. ^B 85. Some say that the demons, by touching the parts of the body during sleep, stir up the passion of lust; then, the passion being stirred, it brings the form of a woman to the mind through the memory. Others say that they appear to the intellect in the form of a woman and, by touching the parts of the body, stir the desire, and thus the fantasies come about. Others, again, say that the passion prevailing in the demon who is drawing near stirs that passion; and thus the soul is kindled toward thoughts, through the memory bringing the forms forward. And regarding other passionate fantasies as well, some say they happen in this way, others in that. But in none of the mentioned ways can the demons stir any passion or perturbation ^C if love and self-control are present to the soul, whether the body is awake or weighed down by that sleep. 86. Some of the commandments of the Law must be kept both bodily and spiritually; others, however, simply spiritually. For example, such things as: *Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal*, and the like, must be kept both bodily and spiritually. And they are to be kept spiritually in a triple way. But to be circumcised, to keep the Sabbath, to sacrifice the lamb, and to eat unleavened bread upon bitter herbs [(d)], and the like, must be kept only spiritually.

CENTURY II OF THE CHAPTERS ON CHARITY

^A 87. There are three more general moral states among monks. The first is to commit no sin in act or deed; the second is not to allow libidinous and affected thoughts to linger in the mind; the third is to behold the very forms of women, and of those who have injured us, with the mind free from all lust and perturbation.

88. He is poor who has renounced all that he possesses, and possesses nothing at all on earth except his body; and having broken even his attachment to that, he has entrusted the disposition and care of his own life to God and to pious men.

89. Of those who have possessions, some possess them without attachment or lust, and therefore they do not grieve when they are deprived of them; just as those who gladly accepted the plundering of their goods. Others, however, possess them with attachment and lust, and therefore, when they are about to be deprived of them, they become very sorrowful, like the rich man in the Gospel: *He went away sorrowful* (Matth. xix, 22). And if they are indeed deprived of them, they grieve unto death. Thus, deprivation tests and examines the state of the passionless and of the passionate man.

^B 90. The demons fight against those who pursue the highest and most pure kind of prayer, that they may not receive raw and simple rational concepts and perceptions of sensible things into the mind; they fight against those who study science and contemplation, that libidinous and affected thoughts may linger in them; and finally, they fight against those who struggle in action, so that they may persuade them to sin in act and deed. In every way, the wicked ones contend and struggle against all, that they may separate men from God.

^C 91. Those who are exercised in piety during this mortal life are tested by this triple temptation. Namely, that either they are given things that are sweet, such as health, beauty, noble and ample offspring,

riches, glory, and the like: either through the introduction of painful things, such as the loss of children, wealth, and glory; or through those things that cause pain to the body, such as illnesses, tortures, and the like. ^A And to the former, the Lord says: *If any man does not renounce all that he possesses, he cannot be my disciple.* And to those who are of the second and third order: *In your patience possess your souls.*

92. They say that these four things change the temperament of the body and provide thoughts to the mind, whether they be passionate or dispassionate: namely, angels, demons, the temperament of the air, and the regimen of diet. ^B Indeed, they say that angels change through discourse, demons through touch or contact, the temperament of the air by the various mutations it undergoes, and the regimen of diet by the qualities of foods and drinks and by their abundance or scarcity; beyond those changes which happen to it from memory, and from things seen and heard, so that the mind is first affected by the painful or joyous things that befall it. And from these the soul, being affected, changes the temperament of the body; and the temperament of the body, being changed from those things which were mentioned, in turn provides thoughts to the mind.

93. Death, in the proper sense, is the separation from God; the sting of death is sin ^C which, once Adam had received it, caused him to be banished at once from the tree of life, from paradise, and from God; and from this, of necessity, the death of the body also followed. But life, in the proper sense, is He who said: *I am the life.* ^D Being dead, He brought to life again him who was dead.

94. What account are we writing, or do we write for the sake of our own remembrance, or to provide benefit, or both for some reason: or to inflict harm on some, or for the sake of ostentation, or because we are forced to write.

95. A place of pasture is practical virtue; water of refreshment, the knowledge of things that have come to pass.

96. The shadow of death is human life. Whoever, therefore, is with God, and has God with him, can say clearly this: *For even if I walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evils, for you are with me.*

97. A pure mind sees straight things: regular prayer and the power of discourse place what is seen under view; this, a clear ear receives. But he who is wanting in these three condemns the speaker and speaks against him.

98. He is with God who knows the holy Trinity, and His creation, and His providence; and who...

possessing the emotional part of the soul free from affections.

99. They say that the rod signifies the judgment of God; the staff, His providence. It belongs, therefore, to the one who has partaken of the knowledge of these to say: *Thy rod and Thy staff, they have comforted me* (Ps. XXII, 4). ^B

100. When the mind is stripped of affections and is illuminated by the contemplation of beings, then it is able to exist in God and to pray as it ought.

BY THE SAME

One Hundred Chapters on Love, Third Century

1. The reasonable use of thoughts and of things begets temperance, love, and knowledge; but an unreasonable use begets intemperance, hatred, and ignorance. ^B

2. *Thou hast prepared a table before me*, and so forth (Ps. XXII, 5). The table here signifies the practical virtue. For this was prepared by Christ in the face of those who afflict us. The oil, which makes the mind supple, signifies the contemplation of created things. The cup of God, the knowledge of God. His mercy, His Word and God. For He, through His Incarnation, pursues ^C all our days, until He has apprehended all those who are to be saved, just as He did Paul. The house is the kingdom, into which all the saints are to be brought back. And length of days is eternal life.

3. The vices of the powers of the soul befall us through misuse; such as the concupiscible, the irascible, and the rational powers. Now the misuse of the rational power is ignorance and folly; that of the irascible and concupiscible is hatred and intemperance. The use of these, however, is knowledge and prudence, love and temperance. If this is so, then nothing of the things created and brought into being by God is evil. ^D

4. Not foods are evil, but gluttony; not child-bearing, but fornication; not money, but avarice; not glory, but vainglory. If this is so, nothing in existence is evil, except misuse, which happens from the soul’s negligence concerning its natural cultivation.

5. The blessed Dionysius says that the evil in demons is this: unreasonable rage, mindless desire, and rash imagination. But unreason, foolishness, and rashness are, in regard to rational beings, privations of reason, of mind, and of circumspection. And privations are posterior to the faculties. Was there, therefore, a time when there existed in them reason...

^A and mind and circumspect caution? If this is so, then neither are the demons evil by nature; but they have become evil through the misuse of their natural faculties.

6. Some passions produce debauchery; others, hatred; and others, both: namely, both debauchery and hatred.

7. Refined luxuries of food breed lechery; but [avarice and] vainglory [breed] hatred toward one’s neighbor. The mother of these, self-love (φιλαυτία), is the cause of both.

8. Self-love is an impassioned and irrational love ^B toward the body, to which charity and continence are opposed. It is clear that he who has self-love has all the passions.

9. “No one,” says the Apostle, “has hated his own flesh,” but he chastises it, clearly, and subjects it to servitude, providing it with nothing more than food and clothing; and these only to the extent necessary for sustaining life. Thus, then, one loves it without passion; and as a servant of divine things, he nourishes and warms it, providing only those things which satisfy its need.

10. Whatever one loves, one also strives to care for. If, therefore, one loves God, he strives by all means to perform what is pleasing to Him; but if he loves his flesh, he performs what pleases it.

11. To God, indeed, charity and temperance or chastity are pleasing, as are contemplation and prayer; but to the flesh, gluttony and intemperance or lechery, and those things which increase them. For this reason: “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” But those who are of Christ have “crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

12. If the mind inclines toward God, it has the body as a servant, and provides it nothing more than the necessities of life; but if it inclines toward the flesh, it is enslaved to the passions, ^C always making provision for it in [the service of] desires.

13. If you wish to overcome the thoughts, take care of the passions, and you will easily drive them from the mind; for example, in the case of fornication, fast, keep vigil, labor, lead a solitary life. In the case of anger and sadness, despise glory and disgrace and material things. In the case of grudge-bearing, pray for the one who has caused the injury, and you will be delivered.

14. Do not measure yourself by the weaker people, but rather stretch yourself toward the commandment of love. For by measuring yourself against the former, you fall into the precipice of pride; but by stretching toward the latter, you advance toward the height of humility.

15. If altogether [you keep] the commandment of love toward one’s neighbor ^D [note: see how one must overcome the passions. Read the twentieth chapter.]

^A If you keep it, why do you harbor bitterness against him? Is it not clearly because you prefer the temporal things of this life to Him, and by clinging to them, you make war upon your brother?

16. Money has not become so much a target for human desire because of need, as because through it most people satisfy their pleasures.

17. There are three causes for the love of money: love of pleasure, love of vainglory, and lack of faith. But of the two, lack of faith is the more wretched.

18. He who loves pleasure loves money so that he may live in luxury; he who loves vainglory, so that he may be glorified by it; and the faithless man, so that he may hide and hoard it, fearing hunger, or old age, or sickness, or exile. He puts his hope in it more than in God, the Creator and Provider of all creation, down to the last and smallest of living creatures.

19. There are four types of people who acquire money: the three aforementioned, and the prudent steward. This one alone, evidently, acquires it rightly, so that he may never fail to provide for the needs of each.

20. All impassioned thoughts either provoke the appetitive part of the soul, or disturb the irascible part, or darken the rational part. From this it follows that the mind becomes dim concerning spiritual contemplation and the state of prayer. For this reason, the monk, and especially he who practices stillness, must carefully attend to his thoughts, and both know their causes and cut them out. Know this to be so: for example, the impassioned memories of women provoke the appetitive part of the soul; the cause of these is intemperance in food and drink, and frequent and irrational association with women themselves. These are cut off by hunger, thirst, vigil, and withdrawal. Again, the irascible part is disturbed by impassioned memories of those who have caused pain; the causes of these are love of pleasure, vainglory, and love of self. For because of these, the impassioned man is grieved, either as one who has been deprived, or as one who has failed to attain his object. These are cut off by the contempt and disdain of those very things, through love for God.

21. God knows Himself, and He knows the things created by Him. The holy Powers also know God; they also know the things created by God. But the holy Powers do not know God and the things created by Him in the way that God knows Himself and the things created by Him. ^D

^B 23. Things created exist outside the mind, but the mind takes in the contemplation of them within itself. Yet it is not so with God, the eternal, infinite, and immense, who bestows upon existing things both being, and well-being, and everlasting being.

24. The rational and intelligent essence shares in the holy God, both for its being and for its aptitude toward well-being—I mean in His goodness and wisdom—and by His grace toward everlasting being. In this way, therefore, it knows God. But it knows the things created by Him by grasping, as has been said, the artistic wisdom ^C visible in created things, which is mere and unsubstantial, subsisting in the mind.

25. God, out of extreme goodness, made common four divine attributes, which uphold, preserve, and maintain created beings, by bringing into existence the rational and intelligent essence: being, everlasting being, goodness, and wisdom. He granted two of these to the essence, and two to the aptitude of the will—namely, goodness and wisdom—so that what He is by essence, the creature might become by participation. For this reason, it is said to have been made to the image and likeness of God.* And indeed, as to the image, it is in that it is, because He is; and in that it is everlasting, because He is everlasting—though not without beginning, yet without end, and so that no ^D end shall follow that which is. But as to the likeness, it is as one who is good, like Him who is good; and as one who is wise, like Him who is wise—the one by nature, the other by grace and divine gift. And indeed, every nature that uses reason is to the image of God; but only those who are good and wise are to His likeness.

26. Every rational and intelligent essence is divided into two—that is, into the angelic and the human nature. And every angelic nature is again divided into two universal wills and hosts, both holy and profane; that is, into holy Powers and unclean demons. And every human nature is divided into only two universal wills and dispositions: I mean the pious and the impious.

* Gen. 1, 26.

27. God, indeed, as He who possesses existence by Himself, and is goodness itself and wisdom itself—or rather, more truly to say, even something above all these—has absolutely nothing contrary to Him. But created things, inasmuch as they all have their existence by participation and by grace, and those that are rational and intellectual have aptness for goodness and wisdom, do have something contrary: for existence, non-existence; and for the aptness for goodness and wisdom, vice and ignorance. And that these rational and intellectual beings should always exist or not exist is in the power of the One who made them; but their participating or not participating in His goodness and wisdom resides in the will of the rational beings themselves. ^A

28. The Greeks, [p. 1025, note (n) omitted here as per instructions] saying that the substance of beings exists from eternity with God, and that they received from Him only the qualities that clothe it, say that there is nothing contrary to essence and substance; and that all contrariety therefore exists in the qualities alone. We, however, say that the divine substance alone has nothing contrary to it, ^B as it is eternal and infinite, and by this very fact excelling all else, in that it abides forever. But we contend that the contrary to the substance of things is that which is non-being and nothingness; and that it is placed in the power of Him who truly and properly is, that it should always exist or not exist—although He does not repent of His gifts. * Rom. xi, 29. And for this reason it both exists always and will exist, held together by His omnipotent power, even if it has non-being as a ^C contrary, as has been said, in that it was produced from nothingness into being, and has its existing or not existing in His will.

29. Just as evil is a privation of good, and ignorance is a privation of knowledge, so too non-being and nothingness is a privation of being—not of that which is strictly Being, for It has no contrary—but of that which is by participation in what is strictly Being. ^D And the privations of the former follow the disposition of the creatures; but the privation of the latter is placed in the will of the One who created it, who for the sake of His goodness always wills things to exist, and always to receive benefits from Him.

30. Of all created things, some are rational and intellectual, and capable of contraries—such as virtue and vice, and knowledge and ignorance; others are bodies, diverse and constituted of contraries—namely, of earth,

air, fire, and water. Some are entirely incorporeal and devoid of matter, ^A even if some of these are yoked to bodies; while others possess their constitution solely from matter and form.

31. Every body is by nature immovable; it is moved by the soul—by the rational part, by the irrational, or by the non-sentient.

32. Of the faculties of the soul, one is nutritive and augmentative; another is imaginative and impulsive; and a third is logical and intellectual. Plants share only in the first; brute animals possess the second in addition to the first; and human beings possess the third alongside the other two. The first two faculties are shown to be corruptible, but the third is incorruptible and immortal.

33. The holy Powers illuminate one another ^B and the human nature, imparting either their own virtue or the knowledge they possess. By virtue—as by a goodness that imitates God—they benefit both themselves and each other, and those below them, making them godlike; by knowledge, they reveal something higher concerning God (for Scripture says, "Thou, O Lord, art the Most High forever"), or more profoundly concerning bodies, or more accurately concerning incorporeal beings and souls, or more clearly concerning providence, or more openly concerning judgment.

34. The impurity of the mind is, first, to possess false knowledge; second, to be ignorant of any of the universals—I speak in relation to the human mind, for it is the property of an angel ^C to be ignorant of nothing, even down to particulars; third, to harbor impassioned thoughts; and fourth, to consent to sin.

35. The impurity of the soul is not to act according to nature. For from this, impassioned and vicious thoughts are born in the mind. The soul acts according to nature when its passive faculties—I mean incisiveness and desire—remain free from passion and disturbance when confronted by things and by their mental impressions.

36. The impurity of the body is sin committed in act and deed.

37. He who is not affected by worldly things loves solitude; and he who loves none of human affairs loves all ^D men. He possesses knowledge of God and divine things who is not scandalized by anyone, whether by reason of their transgressions or by reason of thoughts born of suspicion.

38. It is a great thing not to be affected by things; but it is far greater than this to remain impassive also toward the mental impressions of those things.

39. Love and self-control keep the mind impassive toward both things and the mental impressions of those things.

40. The mind does not fight against things

nor against the mental impressions of things, but against the passions that are conjoined to the mental impressions. For instance, it does not fight against a woman, nor against the one who has done an injury, nor against the imaginations of them, but against the passions that are conjoined to those imaginations.

^A 41. The entire struggle of the monk against the demons is so that he may separate the passions from the mental impressions. For otherwise, he cannot see things impassively.

42. A thing is one thing, a mental impression is another, and a passion is another. A thing is, for example, a man, a woman, gold, and the rest. A mental impression is the mere memory of one of the aforementioned things. A passion is an irrational affection, or an unbridled impulse toward one of the aforementioned things. The monk’s battle, therefore, is against the passion.

43. A passionate mental impression is a thought composed of a passion and a mental impression. Let us separate the passion from the mental impression, and the bare thought remains. We separate them through spiritual love and self-control, if we so wish.

44. The virtues separate the mind from the passions; spiritual contemplations separate it from bare thoughts; and pure prayer presents it to God.

45. The virtues are for the sake of the knowledge of created things; knowledge is for the sake of the one who knows and perceives; but the knower is for the sake of Him who is known in an unknown way and who is known beyond all knowledge.

^B 46. It was not as if He were in need of anything that the all-full God brought the things that exist into being, but rather so that they, according to their capacity, by participating in His goodness, might enjoy it; and so that He Himself might rejoice in His works, seeing them rejoicing, and being insatiably satiated by the Insatiate One.

47. The world has many who are poor in spirit, but not in the way that is proper. And many who mourn, but because of the loss of wealth or the death of children. And many who are meek, but toward unclean passions. And many who hunger and thirst, but to plunder what belongs to others and to gain through injustice. And many who are merciful, but toward the body and things pertaining to the body. And many who are pure in heart, but for the sake of vainglory. And many who are peacemakers, but by subjecting the soul to the flesh. And many who are persecuted, but as disorderly persons. And many who are reproached, but for ^C shameful sins; yet those alone are blessed.

who for the sake of Christ and by Christian piety both do and suffer these things. For what reason? Because theirs is the kingdom of heaven, and, For they shall see God, etc. Thus, it is not because they do and suffer these things that they are blessed (since even those I mentioned do the exact same), but because it is for the sake of Christ and by Christian piety that they both do and suffer these things.

48. In all that we do, the purpose is examined by God, as has often been said; whether we act for His sake or for the sake of something else. When therefore we intend to do something good, let us not make human favor, but God, our goal; so that, looking always to Him, we may do everything for His sake, lest we sustain the labor and yet lose the reward. ^B

49. Discard from your mind, at the time of prayer, even the pure thoughts of human affairs and the considerations of all things created; lest, by imagining things inferior, you forfeit Him who is incomparably superior to all beings.

50. If we have truly loved God from the heart, by the very power of that love we shall drive away passions and impulses. The love of God consists in preferring Him to the world, and the soul to the flesh; in such a way that, despising secular affairs, we may be constantly occupied with Him through restraint, love, prayer, singing of psalms, and the rest.

51. Whenever, by being long and deeply occupied with God, we have taken care of the passionate part of the soul, we shall no longer strike against the assaults of thoughts; but rather, by discerning and cutting off their causes more skillfully, we shall become more insightful, so that there may be fulfilled in us that which is written: "And mine eye hath looked down upon mine enemies; and mine ear shall hear of the wicked that rise up against me."

52. When you see your mind moving piously and justly in the thoughts of the world, know that your body also remains pure and exempt from sin; but when you see your mind occupied by sins in its thought-processes, and you do not restrain it, know that it will not be long before your body also falls into the same.

53. Just as the body has the world of things, so also does the mind have the world of thoughts; and just as the body commits fornication with the body of a woman, so also does the mind commit fornication with the thought of a woman, by means of the phantasy of its own body. For it sees the form of its own body being mingled with the form of the woman according to the intellect. Likewise, it also takes vengeance in thought upon the form of one who has offended it, through the form of its own body. And it is the same with other sins. For what the body does in act and in the work of the world of things, this the mind also does in its world of notions (or thoughts).

^A It is matter to shudder, to marvel, and to be beside oneself with wonder, that God the Father judges no one, but has handed over all judgment to the Son; ^B and that the Son cries out: Judge not, that you be not judged; condemn not, that you be not condemned (Matt. VII, 1; Luke VI, 37). The Apostle likewise says: Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes (I Cor. IV, 5); and, In whatever judgment you judge another, you condemn yourself (Rom. II, 1). Yet men, having abandoned the care of bewailing their own sins, have snatched the judgment from the Son; and as if they themselves were immune to sin, they judge and condemn others. Heaven indeed on this account has been struck with amazement, and the earth has shuddered (Jer. II, 12); yet they are not led by such stupor to any shame.

^B 55. Whoever curiously inquires into the faults of others, or judges a brother even from light conjecture or suspicion, has not yet laid the foundation of repentance, nor has he searched out and understood that his own sins far exceed many talents of lead in heavy weight; nor has he known whence a man becomes heavy-hearted, who loves vanity and seeks after lies (Ps. IV, 3). Therefore, like one senseless and walking in darkness, neglecting his own sins, he reflects upon the sins of others, whether they be real or something he has maliciously suspected and concocted for himself.

^B 56. Philautia (self-love), as has been often said, is the cause of all passionate thoughts. For from this are born the three most general vices of desire: those of gluttony, avarice, and vainglory. From gluttony is born the vice of fornication; from avarice, unjust rapacity and the lust for having more; and from vainglory, the vice of pride. ^C And the whole host of remaining vices follows each of these three: namely, those of anger, of sadness, of grudge-bearing, of acedia, of envy, of detraction, and the rest. These vices, therefore, bind the mind strongly to material things, and lying upon it like a most heavy stone, they keep it on the earth, whereas by nature it is lighter and more subtle than fire.

^C 57. The beginning of all passions is philautia; the end, however, is pride. Philautia is the irrational love of the body. He who cuts this off, together with it, cuts off all the passions that spring from it.

^D 58. Just as parents of bodies are drawn by affection toward those whom they have begotten, so the mind is naturally attached to its own thoughts. And just as parents are indulgent toward their own offspring, [the mind is likewise attached to these thoughts]. Regarding this, the Author of the Scholia of the Dufrenii codex notes: "These things frighten me, and prevent me from writing"—referring to what was said by Maximus—"and deter me from writing." In this sense, the holy Ambrose used to hand over his books to others to be read and corrected, even though he was such a great man, because it is generally the case that authors are pleased with their own writings and monuments, by that natural affection which parents have for those they have begotten. What Obsonius renders as "they sympathize" is not sufficiently apt.

^A for those who are more impassioned than they, even if the children are in all respects most ridiculous, they appear to all as most moderate and most handsome; so also to the foolish mind, its own words, even if they are more wretched than any others, appear wiser than all others. For the wise man, however, his own words are not so; but when he thinks he is fully persuaded that they are true and good, then most of all he does not trust his own judgment; but he establishes other men, adorned with wisdom, as judges of his own words and thoughts, lest he run or should have run in vain; and through them he receives confirmation.

^B 59. When you have conquered some one of the baser passions—for instance, gluttony, or fornication, or anger, or the rapacious desire of having more—the thought of vainglory immediately flies upon you; and if you conquer this, that of pride succeeds it.

60. All the base passions and affections, while they hold the mind in subjection, drive the thought of vainglory far from it. But when those passions that have been mentioned are conquered, they release and let loose that same [passion of vainglory] upon it.

61. Vainglory, at one time being removed, at another remaining, begets pride; and when removed, it produces a boasting in the mind; but remaining, it inflicts arrogance upon the senses.

62. The hidden labor [of one’s work] removes vainglory; but attributing one's accomplishments to God removes pride.

63. He who has been deemed worthy of the knowledge of God, and has truly tasted of the pleasure that comes from this, he ^C disdains those pleasures born of the concupiscible faculty.

64. He who is led by the desire for earthly things—whether he desires foods, or those things that cater to the belly, or human glory, or money, or anything else that follows upon these—unless the mind finds something better than these to which it may transfer its desire, it will not be persuaded to disdain them completely. Now, the knowledge of God and of divine things is incomparably better than these.

65. Those who disdain pleasures do so either by fear, or by hope, or by knowledge, or even by love for God.

66. Knowledge of divine things without passion ^D does not sufficiently induce the mind to disdain earthly things; rather, it resembles the mere thought of a sensible object.

Therefore, you may find many men who possess great knowledge, yet who wallow like pigs in the mire of carnal passions and lusts. For while they were purged for a short time by diligence and attained to knowledge, having later become negligent, they became like Saul, who, having been deemed worthy of the kingdom, and having administered it unworthily, as the situation required, was cast out of it by a terrible example of wrath.

67. ^B Just as the simple and naked thought of human affairs does not compel the mind to disdain divine things, so too the simple knowledge of divine things does not lead to complete disdain for human things; for the truth, for the time being, exists for us in shadows and imagery. For this reason, there is need for the blessed passion of holy love, which binds the mind to spiritual contemplation and persuades it to prefer the immaterial to the material, and the intelligible and divine to the sensible.

68. He who has cut off the passions and rendered his thoughts simple has not for that reason already turned them toward divine things; rather, it is possible for him to be affected neither by human things nor by divine things. This happens only with those in the practical life who have not yet been deemed worthy of knowledge, and who abstain from passions and vices through fear of punishment or hope of the kingdom.

69. ^C We walk by faith and not by sight; and we have knowledge in mirrors and in enigmas. And for this reason, we have need of much diligence in them, that by the long meditation and attentive consideration of these things, we may obtain a firm and sufficiently tenacious habit of contemplation.

70. If, after having cut off the causes of the passions for a short time, we occupy ourselves with spiritual contemplation, but do not always dwell upon them—having this (meditation) as our very work, and holding it as the head of the matter—then we shall easily turn again to the carnal passions and lusts; having reaped no other benefit from there than a bare and simple knowledge joined with the elation of a self-pleasing mind; the end of which is that, as the knowledge itself gradually becomes clouded, the mind turns completely toward earthly things.

71. ^D A passion of love that is blameworthy occupies the mind with material things; a passion of love that is praiseworthy binds it to divine things. For the mind is accustomed to being expanded in those things in which it dwells, and in those things in which it is expanded, it also turns its desire and love—whether toward divine, proper, and spiritual things, or toward carnal things and their passions and vices.

^A 72. God created this visible and invisible world; and he made the soul and the body, of course. For if this visible world is such and so beautiful, what then must the invisible be? And if that is superior to this, how much does God, who created both, excel them both? If, then, the Creator of all good things is superior to all created things, for what reason—I ask—does the mind, having abandoned that which is superior to all else, bestow its leisure and labor upon the very worst things of all? I mean the passions of the flesh. Or is it plain that, because it has been conversant with flesh from the birth of its beginning and has become accustomed to it, it has not yet perfectly obtained a trial and taste of that which is superior to all and surpasses all? If, then, by long and assiduous exercise in continence from pleasures and in the meditation of divine things, we gradually detach it from such an affection and desire, it will be expanded as it advances little by little in divine things, and will recognize its own dignity; and finally, it will transfer the whole power of its love into God. ^B

73. He who speaks of the sin of a brother without passion does so for two reasons: either to correct him, or to benefit another by admonishing him. But if he speaks outside of these reasons—whether to him or to another, reproaching or disparaging him—he will not escape divine abandonment; but he will certainly fall into the same or some other fault, and will be put to shame being reproved and reproached by others.

74. The motive for those committing the same sin is not one, but varied. For example, it is one thing to sin out of habit, and another to sin out of a certain sudden, unguarded impulse: the latter neither had the intention before the sin, nor is he [content] after the sin; rather, he grieves severely over what has happened. But as for him who acts out of habit, it is quite otherwise; for both before he did not cease to sin in his mind, and after the deed is done, he retains the same affection in his soul. ^C

75. He who cultivates virtues for the sake of vainglory, it is clear that he also cultivates knowledge for the sake of vainglory. Such a person, clearly, does nothing and says nothing for the sake of edification; but in all things he hunts for the glory of those who see or hear him. The passion and desire are revealed when some of those whom I mentioned bring reproach upon his deeds or words, and he is severely grieved at this; not for the reason that they were not edified (for that was not his goal), but because he himself was humbled. ^D

76. The passion of avarice is detected from this: in rejoicing when receiving, and grieving when giving. Such a person cannot be a good steward of worldly goods.

[Note: regarding the divine abandonment mentioned in 73] This is indeed the customary retribution of God, when someone disparages a brother or judges him rashly, concerning which he himself labors either with vainglory or pride, so that he may be chastised, he is allowed to fall into the very same things which he judges or criticizes, which is a divine dereliction, by the withdrawal of His present help and efficacy, in the absence of which one flatters and presumes upon himself in vain, whoever acts, and for whom, in every act of his directed toward God, special help is necessary. By no means will you escape divine retribution. [Note: regarding the steward] As stated above in ch. 19, among those whose concern is money, whether it is being acquired or being guarded, the steward is placed.

^A 77. A person endures when suffering for these reasons: either because of the love of God, or because of the hope of requital, or because of the fear of punishment, or because of fear of men, or because of nature and disposition, or because of pleasure, or for the sake of profit, or because of vainglory, or because necessity compels it.

78. It is one thing to be freed from thoughts and another to be liberated from passions. And often a person is freed from thoughts when those things to which he possesses passions are not present; but the passions lie hidden in the soul, and when those things appear, they are exposed. One must therefore watch the mind when these things are present, and know toward which the passion inclines.

^B 79. That man is a genuine friend who, in time of temptation, bears the afflictions, needs, and calamities that arise from circumstances, along with his neighbor, as if they were his own, without noise and without disturbance.

80. Do not despise the conscience, which always counsels you in the best way. For it suggests to you divine and angelic counsel and will; it frees you from the hidden filth of the heart and grants you boldness before God at the time of your departure.

81. If you wish to become a discerning and moderate person, and not to be a slave to the passion of self-conceit, always seek in the things that exist to see what is hidden from your knowledge. And when you discover that very many and various things escape you, you will marvel at your own ignorance and will humble your mind; and by knowing yourself, you will understand many great and wonderful things. For to think that one knows hinders one from progressing toward knowledge.

^C 82. He who does not resist medicinal remedies desires to be saved precisely. These remedies are pains and sorrows brought on by various occurrences and turmoils. Whoever resists these does not know what is being transacted here, nor does he know what profit he will be able to take away from these things when he departs.

83. Vainglory and love of money are generative of one another. For those who are vainglorious seek to get rich, and those who are rich are vainglorious; but this is as it is with secular people. Since the monk, however, is one who possesses nothing and is poor, he is all the more puffed up with vainglory. If he has money, he hides it, blushing because he possesses something that is inappropriate for his state of life.

84. It is characteristic of a monk's vainglory to be vainglorious regarding virtue and those things that follow from it; but it is characteristic of his pride to be puffed up regarding his accomplishments. ^D

^A Indeed, this is the mark of the vainglory and pride of the worldly man: to be vainglorious and puffed up on account of beauty, wealth, power, and cleverness.

85. The accomplishments of those in the world are the failings and injuries of monks; and conversely, the virtues and adornments of monks are the failings and injuries of those in the world. For example, the accomplishments of those in the world are wealth, glory, power, luxury, physical well-being, a noble and numerous offspring, and such like; if a monk should arrive at these, he is undone. But the accomplishments and virtues of a monk are poverty, lack of reputation, weakness, ^B continence, bodily labor and affliction, and such like; if a worldly person comes to these against his will, he considers it a great downfall and injury; and he is often in danger of resorting to a noose, and indeed some have done so.

86. Foods were created for two reasons: for sustenance and for healing. Therefore, those who partake of them beyond these purposes, as if misusing things given by God for our use, are condemned as pleasure-seekers; for in all things, sin consists in misuse.

87. Humility is constant prayer accompanied by tears and labors. For this, by always calling upon God for help, does not allow one to foolishly trust in his own power ^C and wisdom, nor to be puffed up against others, which are the grievous sicknesses of the vice of pride.

88. It is one thing to fight against a simple thought, so that it does not stir the passion; and it is another thing to fight against one that is passionate and accompanied by emotion, so that it does not induce consent. Neither mode allows thoughts to linger in the mind.

89. Sorrow is yoked to the remembrance of wrongs. When, therefore, the mind looks upon the face of a brother with sorrow as if in a mirror, it is clear that it holds a remembrance of wrongs against him. But the ways of those who remember wrongs lead to death, ^D because every one who remembers wrongs is lawless. Prov. xii, 28; xxi, 24.

90. If, however, you bear a grudge against someone for wrongs, pray for him, and in this way you will restrain the movement of the passion and emotion: namely, by the reason that in praying, you separate the sadness and pain from the memory of the evil which he did to you. But when you become expansive with charity and prone to kindness, you will utterly banish the passion and emotion from your soul. If, however, someone else bears a grudge against you because of a wrong received, be gracious and humble toward him, and associate with him kindly, and you will free him from the passion, and kindly and lovingly use him, and deliver him from the sickness.

91. You will put an end to the sorrow of the envious person by hard work, for he considers that which is envied in you to be a calamity.

^A If it is something good, the cause of which he envies you, do not act otherwise than by concealing it, so that you may curb his malice. But if it is something of such a kind that it benefits many, but serves as a seedbed of grief for him, which part will you disregard? It is necessary, then, that you stand by the advantage of the many and the public, nor yet, as far as lies in your power, neglect him, nor allow yourself to be drawn along by the wickedness of the passion, as one who is not defending yourself against the passion, but against the sufferer; rather, by humility, consider him as excelling yourself, and in every time, place, and affair, yield the mastery to him. You can yourself appease your own envy if, in the things in which he whom you envy rejoices, you likewise rejoice, and in the things in which he grieves, you yourself also grieve together with him, fulfilling that of the Apostle: "Rejoice with them that rejoice, and weep with them that weep."

^B 92. Our mind stands in the middle of two things, and each of them works its own proper effects: the one, virtue; the other, vice; that is to say, the angel and the demon. For the mind has the authority and the power, whichever it wills, either to follow or to resist.

93. The holy Powers urge us toward those things which are honorable and obligatory; natural seeds and a good will assist us; but the incursions of demons, the passions, and an evil will strengthen vice.

94. The pure mind, at times God Himself enters into it and teaches; at other times the holy Powers suggest what is honorable; at other times, ^C the very nature of things, when more diligently inspected and considered by the soul.

95. It is necessary for the mind that has been deemed worthy of knowledge to keep its concepts of things pure from lust; and its spiritual insights safe; and finally, its state of prayer undisturbed. It cannot, however, always keep these things from the eruptions of the flesh, being clouded by the smoke through the snares of the demons.

96. We do not grieve for all the things for which we become angry. For there are more things that cause sadness and pain than there are things that cause anger. For example: this has been broken; this has been lost; such a person has died. For these and similar things, ^D we only grieve; but for other things, we both grieve and become angry or indignant, having minds not sufficiently composed according to the standard of virtue.

97. The mind is fashioned to be transformed according to each concept of things. While it considers these things spiritually, it is variously transformed according to each spiritual insight. But when it has become in God, it becomes altogether without form and without shape. For by beholding the One, it becomes uniform and altogether radiant.

93. Perfect is he whose faculty of passion is entirely inclined toward God. ^A

99. A perfect mind is one which, through true faith, has super-knowingly known the unknowable in a super-knowable way; and having beheld the entirety of His works, and having received from God the comprehensive knowledge of His Providence and judgment—I mean, so far as it is granted to humans.

100. Time is divided in three ways; and faith is co-extended with the three parts; but hope, with one; and love, with two. And indeed faith and hope [last] only up to a certain period; but love continues in infinite ages, united to Him who is more than infinite, and always growing more than itself. And therefore: *The greatest of these is love.*

BY THE SAME

Fourth Century of Chapters on Love

1. First, the mind wonders, considering the divine infinity and reflecting upon that untraversable and much-desired sea. Second, it is struck with awe at how He brought into existence the being of things from nothing. But just as there is no end to His greatness, so too there is no finding out His wisdom. ^B

2. For how does it not wonder, beholding that immense sea of goodness, exceeding all awe? Or how does it not go out of its mind, reflecting upon how and from whence the rational and intelligent substance has come to be, and the four elements from which bodies are composed, when no matter existed before to allow these to arise and be created? And what is that power which, moved into action, brought these into being? But the children of the Greeks do not admit this, ignorant of the omnipotent goodness and its efficacious power, and its wisdom and knowledge that exceed the mind. ^C

3. Existing from eternity as Creator, God, because He wills, creates by the Word who is consubstantial with Him, and by the Spirit, out of infinite goodness. And do not say: "For what reason did He create now, being always good?" For I say to you that the inscrutable wisdom of the infinite essence does not fall under human knowledge. ^D

4. The Creator of things, having the knowledge of them pre-existing in Him from eternity, when He willed, gave them essence and brought them forth. For it is absurd to doubt in God, who is omnipotent, whether He can give essence to something and produce it, when He wills.

5. For what reason God created, seek; for that is knowledge. But the "how" and "why" recently, do not seek; for it does not fall under your mind. For of divine things, some can be grasped, while others are incomprehensible to humans; for an unbridled contemplation might perhaps cast one over a precipice, as one of the saints has said.

CENTURY IV ON CHARITY

5. There are those who say that the created things co-exist with God from eternity, which is impossible. For how could it be that things which are in every way finite could co-exist from eternity with Him who is in every respect infinite? Or how could those things strictly and properly be called created things, if they were co-eternal with the Creator? Yet this is the doctrine of the Greeks, who maintain that God is not the creator of substances, but only of qualities. We, however, acknowledging the almighty God, say that He is the creator not of qualities, but of substances endowed with qualities. And if this is the case, the created things do not co-exist with God from eternity.

^A 6. There are those who say that the created things co-exist with God from eternity, which is impossible. For how could it be that things which are in every way finite should co-exist from eternity with Him who is in every respect infinite? Or how could those things, if they are co-eternal with the Creator, be truly and properly called created things? But this is indeed the doctrine of the Greeks, who maintain that God is not the creator of substances, but only of qualities. We, however, knowing the almighty God, say that He is the creator not of qualities, but of substances endowed with qualities. And if this is so, the things that are created do not co-exist with God from eternity.

7. In one respect the Divine and divine things are known; in another, they are unknown. They are known, indeed, through the reflections and perceptions concerning Him; but He is unknown as to what He is in Himself.

^B 8. Do not seek for habits and aptitudes in the simple and infinite substance of the holy Trinity, lest you make It composite, just as the created things are—which is absurd and impious to think regarding God.

9. The infinite, almighty, and creative essence of all things alone is simple, uniform, without quality, peaceful, and immutable. But every creature is composite, consisting of substance and accident, and is always in need of divine Providence, inasmuch as it is not free from change.

^C 10. Every intellectual and sentient substance, brought forth into the nature of things by God, has received powers of apprehending beings: the intellectual substance, powers of intellection; the sentient substance, powers of feeling.

11. God alone is participated in and participates in nothing; but the creature both participates and imparts. It participates in existence and well-being; but it imparts only well-being, though the corporeal substance does so in one way, and the incorporeal and spiritual substance in another.

12. The incorporeal substance imparts well-being through both speaking, acting, and contemplation; but the corporeal substance imparts it through contemplation alone.

^A

13. The fact of whether or not a rational and intelligent substance always exists lies in the will of Him who created all things good; but that these things are good or evil according to moral choice, exists in the will of those who are created.

14. Evil is not considered to be in the essence of created things, but in an erroneous and irrational motion.

15. The soul is moved reasonably when its concupiscible part is adorned with self-control, when its irascible part holds fast to love and turns away from hatred, and when the faculty of reason is occupied with God through prayer and spiritual contemplation, growing accustomed to Him.

16. He who, in the time of temptation, is not long-suffering in regard to the painful things that occur, but cuts himself off from the love of his spiritual brothers, has not yet attained perfect love, nor does he possess the depth of the knowledge of divine Providence. ^B

17. The purpose of divine Providence is to unite through right faith and spiritual love those who have been variously divided by wickedness. For this reason the Savior suffered and died: "That he might gather together in one the children of God that were dispersed." Whoever, therefore, does not endure annoyance, nor tolerate painful things, nor maintain patience in those things which involve labor, walks outside of divine love and the goal of Providence.

18. If "love is long-suffering and kind," he who is small-minded and dejected regarding the evils that occur, and because of this acts maliciously toward those who have done him harm, and cuts himself off from the love that he ought to have for them, how does he not fall away from the goal of divine Providence? ^C

19. Pay attention to yourself, and beware, lest the evil that separates you from your brother be found not in the brother, but in you; and hasten to be reconciled with him, so that you may not fall away from the commandment of love.

20. Do not despise the commandment of love, because through it you shall be a son of God; whereas if you violate it, you shall be found a son of hell.

21. The things that separate one from the love of friends are these: to envy or be envied; to cause harm or to suffer it; to insult or to be insulted; and the reasonings that spring from suspicion. ^D Therefore, beware lest you have done something of this kind or have suffered it, and for that reason cut yourself off from the love of a friend.

22. A temptation has happened to you from your brother, and your grief has led you into hatred. Do not be conquered by hatred, but conquer hatred by love. You will conquer in this way: by praying genuinely for him to God, by accepting his defense, or even by healing him yourself through this, and by considering yourself to be the cause of the temptation, bearing it with long-suffering until this cloud has passed.

23. He is long-suffering and has great patience who awaits the end of the temptation and receives the glory of endurance. ^A 24. A man of long-suffering is great in prudence; for he refers all that happens to him to that end, and by expecting it, he bears up under troubles and evils. The end, however, is eternal life, as the divine Apostle feels. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 25. Do not be quick to cast aside spiritual love, because no other way of salvation is left to men. 26. Do not judge as vile and wicked the brother who was yesterday spiritual and virtuous, because of the hatred that has sprung up in you today through the wiles of the evil one; but by means of long-suffering love, consider his past good deeds and cast the hatred of the present day from your soul. ^B 27. Do not speak evil of one whom you praised yesterday as good and extolled as virtuous, today calling him vile and wicked, because you have transformed your love into hatred; indeed, by accusing your brother, you are making an apology for the wicked hatred within you. Rather, persevere in those same praises, even if you are still held by pain, and you will easily return to saving love. 28. Do not adulterate the customary praise of your brother in the gathering of other brethren, because of the hidden pain that still exists in you toward him, by secretly mixing blame into your words; rather, use pure praise in the conversation, and pray sincerely for him as for yourself; and you will very quickly be freed from the deadly stain of hatred. ^C 29. Do not say, "I do not hate the brother," while turning away from his memory. But hear Moses saying: "You shall not hate your brother in your heart; you shall surely rebuke your brother, and not bear sin because of him." 30. If it should happen that a brother, being tempted, persists in speaking evil of you, yet do you not be carried away from the state of love, enduring the same wicked demon who is harassing you in your mind. You will not be carried away from this state if, when reviled, you bless; if, when plotted against, you show goodwill. This is the way of Christian philosophy; and he who does not walk it will not dwell with Christ. ^D 31. Do not consider those to be well-disposed toward you whose words bring you pain and produce hatred for a brother, even if they seem to speak the truth; but turn away from such people as if they were deadly serpents, so that you may both check their evil speaking and rid your own soul of wickedness. 32. Do not goad the brother with ambiguous words...

^A so that by not receiving the like in return from him, you may not drive the disposition of love away from both your hearts. Rather, go with loving confidence and reprove him, so that by resolving the causes of the pain, you may rid both of you of the turmoil and grief.

33. Examine your conscience with all accuracy, lest through your own fault the brother has failed to be reconciled; and do not try to deceive it, for it knows your hidden things and will accuse you at the time of your departure, and will become a stumbling block to you at the time of prayer.

34. Do not remember in the time of peace what was said by the brother in the time of grief, whether he spoke bitter things to your face or spoke against you to another, and you heard of it afterwards; so that you may not, by harboring thoughts of resentment, return ^B to a destructive hatred of your brother.

35. A rational soul cannot nourish hatred toward a human being and be at peace with God, who gave the commandment. For He says, "If you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you your trespasses." But if he does not wish to keep peace, at least keep yourself immune from hatred, praying for him sincerely and not speaking ill of him to anyone.

36. The ineffable peace of the holy angels is firmly secured by this two-fold affection, namely, the love by which they pursue God, and that by which they pursue one another. This is likewise true of all the saints who have been from the beginning of the world. Therefore, it has been beautifully and excellently said by our Savior, that "on these two ^C commandments the whole law and the prophets hang."

37. Do not be self-complacent, and you will not have your brother in hatred; and do not be a lover of self, and you will be a lover of God.

38. If you have purposed to live with spiritual men, renounce your own will at the very threshold. For you will not be able to be at peace in any other way, either with God or with those you live with.

39. He who has been able to acquire perfect love and has ordered his whole life toward it, this man truly confesses Jesus as Lord in the Holy Spirit; and by the contrary, the opposite is clearly true.

40. Indeed, the love toward God always loves to give wings to the mind for divine conversation, ^D while the love toward one’s neighbor always prepares one to think well of him.

^A 41. It is characteristic of one still loving vain glory or addicted to any material things that he should be pained toward men because of temporal matters, or keep a grudge against them, or hold a middle ground toward them, or be a slave to shameful thoughts; but for the God-loving soul, all these things are far alien.

42. When you say or do nothing shameful in your mind, and when you do not hold a grudge against one who has caused you loss or has slandered you, and when in the time of prayer you always keep the mind void of shapes, then know that you have reached the measure of dispassion and perfect love.

43. It is no small struggle to be rid of vainglory. One is released from it through the hidden practice of virtues and more frequent prayer. The sign of release is when one no longer keeps a grudge against the one who slanders or spoke slander.

44. If you wish to be just, assign to each of the parts in you what is according to worth; I mean to the soul and to the body. And to the rational part of the soul, [apply] readings and spiritual contemplations, and prayer; to the irascible part, spiritual love, which is opposed to hatred; to the concupiscent part, temperance and continence; to the body, nourishment and clothing, those things which are the only ones strictly necessary.

^B 45. The mind operates according to its nature when it has the passions subjected to it, and contemplates the reasons of beings, and dwells toward God.

46. Just as health and sickness are considered in relation to the body of an animal, and light and darkness in relation to the eye, so virtue and vice in relation to the soul, and knowledge and ignorance in relation to the mind.

47. In these three things the Christian practices philosophy: in the commandments, in the dogmas, and in the faith. And the commandments separate the mind from the passions; the dogmas introduce him to the knowledge of beings; and the faith [introduces him] into the contemplation of the Holy Trinity.

^C 48. Some of the wrestlers repel only the passionate thoughts, but others prune away the passions themselves. And one repels passionate thoughts, for example, by psalmody, by prayer, or by distraction ^D (or by some other local diversion). But one prunes away the passions by despising those things for the sake of which one possesses them.

49. These are the things for the sake of which we possess the passions, such as a wife, money, gifts, and the rest.

^A And a man can despise a woman when, even after his withdrawal and the silence he has sought for his life, he also macerates the body, as is proper, through continence and a more severe discipline; when he has brought his mind to be content in all things with what is sufficient; and similarly with glory, when he gladly performs the works of virtue in secret, with God alone as his witness—and likewise in other matters. For he who despises these things will never come to hate anyone.

50. He who has renounced things, such as a wife, money, and the rest, has made the outer man a monk, but not yet the inner man. But he who [has renounced] the passionate thoughts concerning these things, [has made] the inner man, which is the mind, a monk. And indeed, one can easily make the outer man ^B a monk, if only he wishes it, but to make the inner man a monk is a difficult task and one for which one must strive with great effort.

51. Who, then, in this generation is entirely freed from passionate thoughts, and has been deemed worthy of pure and immaterial prayer, which is the sign of the inner monk?

52. Many passions and vices lie hidden in our souls, and then they are brought forth when the current circumstances appear and manifest themselves.

53. A man may be able not to be disturbed by the passions in the absence of things, having attained a partial state of unperturbedness [ἀπάθεια]; but if the things appear, the passions immediately distract the mind ^C.

54. Do not imagine that you have attained perfect unperturbedness as long as the thing is absent. But when it appears, and you remain unmoved—both toward the thing and toward the subsequent memory of it—then know that you have entered the bounds of it. Yet do not even then despise it, for just as virtue, dwelling for a long time, extinguishes the passions and vices, so, being neglected, it again awakens them and makes them flourish anew.

55. He who loves Christ ^D necessarily also imitates Him to the best of his ability. For example, Christ did not cease to benefit men; though he was treated with ingratitude and blasphemed, he was long-suffering; and though beaten and handed over to death by them, he endured it, reckoning evil against no one at all. These three things are works of love for one's neighbor, without which he who says that he loves Christ, or promises himself His kingdom, deceives himself. For not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, says the Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father. And again, He who loves me will keep my commandments, etc.

56. The whole aim of the Savior's commandments is to free the mind from intemperance and hatred, and to lead it to His own love and that of one's neighbor; from which

^A light of the active, divine knowledge is born.

57. If you are deemed worthy of some part of knowledge by God, do not neglect love and self-control. For these ^B, by cleansing the affective part of the soul, always make ready the way that leads you to knowledge.

58. The way to knowledge is impassibility and humility, without which no one shall see the Lord.

59. Since knowledge puffs up, but love builds up, yoke love to knowledge, and you will be free of pride; you will be a spiritual builder, building up both yourself and all who approach you.

60. Hence it is that love builds up, because it does not envy, nor is it embittered against those who envy; nor does it display what is envied in a boastful way; nor does it reckon itself to have already apprehended; and of what it does not know, it confesses its ignorance without blushing. Thus, in this way, it renders the mind free of pride, and causes it always to make progress in knowledge.

61. It is natural for conceit and envy to accompany knowledge, especially in its beginning. Conceit is only from within, but envy is both from within and from without. ^C From within, it is against those who possess knowledge; from without, it is from those who possess it. Love, therefore, overturns all three: conceit, because it is not puffed up; the inward envy, because it does not act out of jealousy; and the outward envy, because it is long-suffering and kind. It is necessary, therefore, for the one who possesses knowledge to also take up love, that he may keep the mind unscathed in all things.

62. He who is deemed worthy of the gift of knowledge, and yet possesses sadness or resentment toward a man, or hatred, is like one who with thorns and thistles ^D

^A pricks his eyes. Therefore, knowledge necessarily requires love.

63. Do not spend all your leisure on the flesh, but set for it an exercise according to your strength; and turn your whole mind toward interior things. For bodily exercise is profitable for a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, etc.

64. He who unceasingly applies himself to interior things is sober, patient, kind, and humble. And not only this, but he also contemplates, speaks of God, and prays. And this is what the Apostle says: Walk in the Spirit, and the rest.

65. He who does not know how to follow the spiritual path takes no ^B thought for passionate thoughts, but spends all his leisure on the flesh; and he is gluttonous and acts intemperately, is sorrowful, angry, and resentful; and from this he darkens his mind; he uses his exercise without measure, and disturbs his intellect.

66. The Scripture does not abolish any of the things given to us by God for our use, but it punishes immoderation and corrects what is unreasonable. As, for example, it does not forbid eating, nor begetting children, nor possessing wealth and managing it rightly; but it forbids gluttony, fornication, and the rest. Nor does it ^C forbid the thought of these things (for they were made for this), but the thinking of them with passion.

67. Some of the things performed by us according to God are done by commandment; others, not by commandment, but, one might say, as a voluntary offering. As for example, by commandment: to love God and one’s neighbor; to love one’s enemies; not to commit adultery, nor to murder, nor to envy, and the rest, by the transgression of which we are made liable to condemnation. But not by commandment are: to remain a virgin, to live in celibacy, to be poor, to live as a monk or hermit, and the rest. These ^D have the nature of gifts, so that if there are any commandments which, through infirmity, we have not been able to duly perform, we may, by the help of these gifts, render our most benevolent Lord propitious to us.

68. He who honors celibacy or virginity must necessarily have his loins girded and his lamp burning: the loins, indeed, through self-control; but the lamp, through prayer, contemplation, and spiritual love.

69. Some of the brethren think they are apart from the gifts of the Holy Spirit. For they do not know that, because of their negligence and carelessness in the working of the commandments, he who has sincere faith in Christ has all divine gifts contained, as it were, in a single bundle within himself.

^A For since we are far from the love for Him that acts in accordance with that which shows us the divine treasures within us, because of our sloth, we rightly deem ourselves to be outside the divine gifts.

70. If Christ dwells in our hearts through faith, according to the divine Apostle, and all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Him, then surely all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in our hearts. They are made manifest to the heart according to the definite measure of each person’s purity, which he has achieved by fulfilling the commandments.

71. This is the treasure hidden in the field of your heart, which you have not yet found because of your sloth. For if you had found it, you would certainly have sold everything and bought this field. But now, having left the field, you attend to the things around it; in which nothing else is found but thorns and thistles. ^B

72. Therefore the Savior says: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. They will see Him then, and the treasures that are in Him, when they have cleansed themselves through love and self-control; and they will see Him the more clearly, as they have increased that purity to a greater degree.

73. Therefore He says again: Sell what you possess, and give alms, and behold, all things shall be clean for you; as if to say that they no longer busy their minds with things concerning the body, but hasten to cleanse from hatred and licentiousness the mind—which the Lord denotes by the term "heart." For these things, by defiling the mind, do not allow it to see Christ, who dwells within it through the grace of the holy baptism. ^C

74. The Scripture calls the virtues 'ways.' But greater than all the virtues stands love. Therefore the Apostle said: I show you a still more excellent way; as it persuades one to despise material things, and to prefer nothing temporal to the eternal.

75. The love toward God resists desire; for it persuades the mind to be self-controlled against pleasures. But the love toward one’s neighbor resists anger; for it causes one to despise glory and riches. And these are the two denarii which the Savior gave to the innkeeper, so that he might take care of you. ^D But do not appear ungrateful by joining yourself to the robbers, lest, having been wounded again, you be found no longer half-dead, but actually dead.

^A

76. Cleanse your mind from anger, and from malice, and from filthy thoughts. And then you will be able to know the indwelling of Christ.

77. Who enlightened you into the faith of the holy and consubstantial and adorable Trinity? Or who made known to you the bodily dispensation of the one of the holy Trinity? Who taught you the doctrines concerning incorporeal beings, or those concerning the origin and consummation of the visible world? Or about the resurrection from the dead and eternal life, or about the glory of the kingdom of heaven, and the fearful judgment? Was it not the grace of Christ that dwells in you? Which is the earnest of the holy Spirit? What is greater than this grace? Or what is more excellent than this wisdom and knowledge? Or what is higher than those things which are promised? But if we are idle and slothful, and do not cleanse ourselves from the passions that hinder us and blind our mind, so that we might see the doctrines concerning these things more clearly than the sun, let us blame ourselves, and not deny the indwelling of grace. ^B

78. God, who promised you eternal goods and gave the earnest of the Spirit in your heart, commanded you to take care of your life, that the inner man, being liberated from the passions, might begin from this moment to enjoy the goods.

79. Having been counted worthy of divine and sublime contemplations, take great care of love and continence, so that, by keeping the part of the soul susceptible to passions undisturbed, you may possess the light of the soul unquenchable. ^C

80. Bridle the irascible part of your soul with love, and subdue its concupiscible part with continence, and make its rational part soar with prayer; and the light of the mind will never be darkened.

81. The things that dissolve love are these: for instance, dishonor, damage, calumny—whether regarding faith, or regarding life and conduct—beatings, wounds, and so forth; and these whether they happen to oneself, or are inflicted upon any of one's kinsmen or friends. Whoever, therefore, dissolves love for the sake of any of these things has not yet known what the goal of Christ's commandments is. ^D

82. Strive as much as you are able to love all men. But if you are not yet able to do this, at least hate no one. And you will not even be able to perform this, unless you despise the things of the world.

83. If someone speaks evil of you, do not hate him, but hate the evil-speaking, and the devil who prompted him to speak evil. But if you hate the one who spoke evil, you have hated a man, and you are guilty of violating the commandment; and what he did by word, you do by deed. But if you keep the commandment, show the fruits of love; and if you are able, help him, so that you may deliver him from the evil.

84. Christ does not want you to have hatred toward…

^A a man, or grief, or anger, or malice in any way at all, or for the sake of any temporal matter whatsoever. And the four Gospels cry this out in every way.

85. Many of us are those who speak, but few are those who do. Yet no one ought to corrupt the word of God because of his own negligence; rather, he should confess his own weakness, but not hide the truth of God, lest we be held guilty, with the transgression of the commandments and the misinterpretation of the word of God.

86. Love and self-control free the soul from the passions; reading and contemplation deliver the mind from ignorance; but the state of prayer ^B sets it before God Himself.

87. When the demons see us despising the things of this world, so that we do not hate men because of them and fall away from love, then they raise up slanders against us, so that, being unable to bear the grief, we might hate those who have slandered us.

88. There is no pain of the soul heavier than slander, whether one is slandered regarding faith, or regarding life and conduct; and no one can despise this, unless he be someone who looks only to God, like Susanna, who alone can deliver one from necessities just as He did for her, and who can satisfy men's minds, just as He did regarding her, and provide comfort to the soul through hope.

89. As much as you pray from the soul on behalf of the one who slandered you, so much does God restore the minds of those who were scandalized. ^C

90. God alone is good by nature; and he who imitates God is alone good by will. For His purpose is to unite the wicked to the One who is good by nature, so that they may become good. For this reason, He blesses those who revile Him; He endures those who persecute Him; He entreats those who blaspheme Him; He prays for those who kill Him. He does everything, so that He may not fall short of the goal of love.

91. The commandments of the Lord teach us to use intermediate things reasonably; and the reasonable use of intermediate things purifies the state of the soul; and a pure state brings forth discernment; and discernment brings forth freedom from passion, from which perfect love is born.

92. He who, because something tempting or rather harsh happens, ^D is unable to overlook the mistake of a friend, or whoever it may be, or whom he happens to think it is, has not yet attained freedom from passion and the tranquility of the soul with its affections calmed.

^A For the passions that dwell in the soul, when they are stirred up, blind the intellect and do not allow it to see the rays of truth, nor to distinguish the better from the worse. Therefore, such a person has not yet acquired perfect love, which casts out the fear of judgment.

93. A faithful friend is a strong shelter; ^B because he reckons the misfortunes of his friend as his own; and he suffers with him, enduring hardships even unto death.

94. Many are friends in times of prosperity; but in times of temptation, you will hardly find one.

95. Every human being is to be loved from the soul; but hope is to be placed in God alone, and He is to be served with all one’s might. For as long as He preserves us, all our friends cherish us, and all our enemies and adversaries can do us no harm. But when He abandons us, then all our friends turn away from us, and all our enemies prevail against us.

96. There are in general four modes of abandonment: the first is by way of dispensation and the counsel of provision, as in the case of Christ, so that through the abandonment that seemed to take place, those who had been abandoned might obtain salvation; the second is for the sake of probation, as in the case of Job and Joseph, so that the one might appear as a pillar of fortitude, ^C and the other as a pillar of chastity; the third is for the sake of spiritual instruction, as in the case of the Apostle, so that through humility of heart he might preserve the surpassing grace; the fourth is by way of turning away, as in the case of the Jews, so that through chastisement they might be humbled and transformed to repentance. Yet all these modes are salutary, and full of divine goodness and mercy.

97. Only those who are precise observers of the commandments, and genuine initiates of the divine judgments, do not abandon friends who are being tested by God’s permission. But those who despise the commandments, and are uninitiated in the divine judgments, when a friend is prospering, they share in his happiness; but when he is placed in temptation and suffers, they abandon him. ^D Nay, sometimes they even go over to the side of his adversaries.

98. The friends of Christ love everyone sincerely; yet they are not loved by everyone. But the friends of the world neither love everyone, nor are they loved by everyone. And indeed, the friends of Christ preserve the continuity of their love to the very end; whereas the friends of the world do so only until they offend one another over the things of this world.

99. A faithful friend is a strong shelter. For he is a good counselor to his friend when he is prospering, and a like-minded helper; and when he is suffering, a most genuine supporter and a most compassionate defender.

^A 100. Many have spoken much about love; but if you seek it only among the disciples of Christ, you will find it; for they alone possessed true Love, the teacher of love, concerning which he said: "If I have prophecy, and know all mysteries, and all knowledge, but have not love, I am nothing profited." He, therefore, who has gained love has gained God Himself, because God is love. To Him be glory unto the ages. Amen.

The end of the four hundred chapters on love.

SCHOLIA BY AN UNKNOWN AUTHOR

1. We who are able neither to teach nor to be taught by words or works, attempt to teach by words and discourses, and to become physicians of others while we ourselves are teeming with ulcers. Observe this, however: that not all things are easily grasped and understood by those who wish them to be, even if it seems so. And who would not marvel at ^B those who, with a swollen and proud mind, profess that they will teach these things even to luxury-loving women and infants?

2. The Apostle says: "But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him." Assuredly, He wishes us to be known by loving the Lord. But by being known, he means being taught, just as the great Gregory, who is great in both virtue and theology, says. This, I think, is the sense of this chapter also: imperturbability gives birth to love, and love is productive of the illumination of knowledge.

3. Whom does this thought not sting? I think, most of all, those who die for the sake of mammon; for it is the same as saying, for the sake of what they call the public (as though it were some treasury) and the ruler of the world. ^C

4. God "wishes all men to be saved," and He "died for all," so that all might obtain salvation. He, therefore, who loves God, guards what is willed by God. And guarding it, how will he not love all as himself, and wish all to be saved, since this is the will of God?

5. He calls faith the knowledge of God; and love, the observance of the commandments—which He also calls will, and justifications, and injunctions, and precepts, and light, according to the text: "Because Thy commands are light." And this chapter sets forth practical knowledge.

6. The cause of the virtues is God. And its knowledge in act is the transformation of the spirit according to the habit of one who has truly recognized God. ^D

7. Read chapter seventy-six of the same century, and you will find it completely similar, except that different names are used.

8. If the commandment of love was given as a remedy against anger, then surely self-control has been granted against concupiscence. Read chapter 79.

^A 9. Now we who are servants of these three, how much hatred do we nourish against one another, becoming wholly subject to the passion of insatiability? Read chapter 64.

10. Having stated in chapter 77 that by means of the commandments He makes us immune to passions and vices, he now shows in this chapter the method, namely, through love, fasting, self-control, and prayer.

11. Even someone endowed with spiritual knowledge is drawn back down and weighed down again.

12. We who are overwhelmed by passions and vices—how shall we contemplate? Or how can those things which we have contemplated not exclude us from the knowledge of the Holy Trinity?

13. Do you see the ascents of contemplation?

14. Just as there is no reason for unbelief within faith, so too in the rational principles that are derived from nature, there is nothing that is contrary to reason. The work of the commandments, however, is a principle put into action. ^B Read chapter 84, and you will find rest; you will surely find that the deed is sufficient for you.

15. Natural contemplation of the commandments, and sincere love for one’s neighbor, sets free those who observe them from perverse carnal love and tyranny. The knowledge of created things, however, delivers those who are spiritual and instructed in such things from oblivion and ignorance. By all these things, it is taught that the soul, divided into three parts and faculties, when moved according to reason and nature, performs every virtue; but when moved against reason and nature, it produces every vice and malice. Remember that these are the three original and supreme principles of all depravity and malice: namely, ignorance, that love of bodies or carnal love, and tyranny. The most wicked one planted these within us by misusing the powers of the soul within us.

16. The commandments strip the passionate thoughts of their conceptual images of objects, as he says in chapter 4 of this same century.

17. Those things performed contrary to the will of God—the good, acceptable, and perfect [will] (Rom. xii, 2), which is the affection of soul toward one’s neighbor for the sake of God—are done apart from the right end and goal. That being ill-disposed toward one’s neighbor is contrary to the will of God, the Lord shows in the Gospels when He says, "Inasmuch as you did it, or did not do it" (Matt. xxv, 40), enumerating the kinds of love and hatred. ^D Observe, however, that those who have acted contrary to the right goal—that is, contrary to the commandment of God—having cast off the sense of humanity, and having nothing in their defense, do not even seem to put forward an end and goal. This is because they know that he who acts contrary to the right goal of God, even if he puts forward countless arguments, will never escape hell.

18. The love of God halts concupiscence; but love for one's neighbor calms a soul exasperated by anger.

19. Those who turn visual materials into divine characters

^A abuse the concepts of the figures. For since the character signifies the person, they have supposed that the substance—that is, the material in which the figure is adored—is the figure itself. And hence, abusing the concept and the notion of the thing, they have necessarily abused the thing itself in reality; exactly as if they were to shamelessly think that the naked and mute material of the sacred figures and images should be destroyed by fire.

20. See the difference between sorrow and pain; and that they are appendages: the one of pleasure, the other of vainglory.

21. All these three following chapters strip us of every excuse for clinging to money.

22. By artificial wisdom he does not mean that which is acquired by learning, but that through which God created all things.

23. My mind is impure to the four. And it has something even worse, that it has deemed itself wiser than others.

24. My soul has never acted according to nature; he knows this, to whom nothing is unknown; and it has never ceased from being in the act of sin.

25. Therefore, since we do not do things for Christ, but for some other reason, we cannot set forth the end; for we act outside the purpose of God and according to our own will.

26. If anyone thirsts to take away and seize the things of others (which is not God's will), ^C how does he set forth the end, the purpose of whom is to have mercy on us and to lend?

27. That he who serves self-love is heavy-hearted, loving and seeking vanity and falsehood; which is the fleshly mind—that is, the luxury and good condition of the flesh.

28. From what has been said before, it is clear: of the love of pleasure, the love of glory, and the love of money. But if someone clings fast to these as I do, how he will be deemed worthy of the knowledge of God, I have no way of discerning.

29. For [we are] either as slaves, or as hired workers, or as sons; that is, either as practitioners only, or as ones deemed worthy of knowledge.

30. A thought that is without passion is simple; for that which is with passion and is lustful leads one away from God. Just as also, bare and simple knowledge does not lead one away from human things, but that which suffers love does; which is an alteration in the spirit according to habit.

31. That sons abstain from the passions through knowledge and love; but slaves and hired workers, that is, those who are practical, do so by either fear or hope.

32. And these things restrain those who have chosen to write; clearly showing the harm that comes from the end.

33. I think he was looking at us while writing these things.

gain is the reward of those who think they know: for if they had known, they would have gained this advantage, to make progress in knowledge.

35. When a simple and naked thought lingers, the affection is stirred; so that even when it is joined to a passion and is lustful, consent is given. ^A

36. Know, O Lord, how I am judged today, and for what cause; do not abandon us.

37. He cannot perform these things who trusts in his own reasonings, and thinks that he has already comprehended those things which, even after they have been comprehended, remain incomprehensible by nature.

38. Sadness and hatred are vices of the irrational part of the soul.

39. Observe how we are deceived, doing the opposite and thinking that we are living in a Christian manner; and, what is graver, we already imagine we possess spiritual love. ^B

40. Suppose someone has the passion of avarice: does he need to covet? If he gains the opportunity to covet, he is immediately exposed; and this is known.

41. See where long-suffering and where patience must be used. For although both are spoken of in relation to unavoidable and external trials, yet since the latter are divided into insulting words and blows, those who see them likewise divide these between them.

42. That through self-control and love, good knowledge is produced. ^C

43. And what are some passionate and haughty men babbling about, bragging that they have divine knowledge? It is out of passion and pride.

44. He who thinks that he has already comprehended and that he is ignorant of nothing, it is clear that he does not possess love. But if he does not possess it, how will he progress in knowledge?

45. Having thorns and thistles of wickedness ^D and ignorance, we hope to have virtue and spiritual knowledge.

46. He portrayed love more perfectly here, and revealed the two denarii to be love toward God and love toward one's neighbor.

47. That in the purification of the tripartite power of the soul, the knowledge of Christ is produced.

48. That of necessity those who are attached to worldly things fall away from holy love, and because of such things, they have an implacable hatred toward their fellow men.

49. In both cases the holy monk Cedonius suffered slander; but looking to the God of Susanna, he is strengthened by divine hope.

50. That he who is a slave to passion has his mind blinded, and, carrying about a blinded faculty of judgment, he cannot distinguish the better from the worse.

MONITORIUM

On the two hundred chapters concerning theology and the dispensation of the Word of God in the flesh

That I should prefer these two hundred chapters to the five hundred others published by Pico, and should append them immediately to the four hundred On Charity addressed to Elpidius, was determined by the dignity of the subject matter. For although both are entitled

On Theology and the Incarnate Economy

461

From the works of Photius.

Photius’ Censure.