OTHER CHAPTERS OF OUR HOLY FATHER MAXIMUS
OTHER CHAPTERS OF OUR HOLY FATHER MAXIMUS
AVERSES The flowing fountain of moral dews of discourse, You shall find here, if you read with a sincere heart, The labors of Maximus the Confessor, O friend. Embrace them, and you shall learn their profit.
1. Anyone who rightly believes in God ought not to be free from care, but always to be expecting and awaiting temptation; so that when it comes, he may not be taken by surprise or troubled, but, poured out in thanksgiving, may patiently bear the vexation and labor of affliction, and thoughtfully consider what he says while chanting with the Prophet: "Prove me, O Lord, and try me" (Ps. xxv, 2). And he did not say, "Thy discipline has destroyed me," but, "It has set me straight unto the end" (Ps. xvii, 36). B
2. The beginning of what is good is the fear of God: the end, however, is His love. The beginning of every good thing is a word supported by action, and an action instructed by a word. Wherefore, neither is an action good without a word, nor a word itself—that which proceeds forth—without an action. C
3. Action is, for the body, fasting and vigils; for the mouth, psalmody; but better than psalmody is prayer; and silence is more precious than a word. Also the action of the hands is that which is performed by them without murmuring. Of the feet, it is that which is done by them immediately upon the first command. The action of the soul is continence with simplicity, and simplicity rendered effective by continence. The action of the mind, finally, which is in contemplation, is prayer; and that which is in prayer, is the contemplation of God.
4. Going before all virtues are mercy and truth, the offspring of which is humility, and the discernment which comes from this according to the Fathers. If this be lacking, neither of the others will be able to see its own end. D
5. Action, spurning the yoke of the word and of reason, hither...
and thither wanders, like a heifer roaming about, and is found; but the word, having cast off the precious garment of action, does not shine with a suitable adornment, even if in appearance it seems to prefer such a thing. B 6. A brave soul, like a woman throughout her whole life, having two lamps burning—that is of action and of contemplation—performs its duties; but, on the contrary, he who is soft and remiss by pleasures [does the opposite]. 7. It does not suffice for the soul toward a perfect departure from evil, that suffering be voluntarily assumed, unless it be also refined through that which occurs involuntarily, like fire in a furnace, so that it may not dissolve. 8. Like a sword is the soul toward a perfect departure from evil; unless it passes through fire and water—that is, voluntary and involuntary labors—it will not be preserved inviolable against the crashing blows of things that happen. 9. Just as of voluntary temptations there exist three more universal causes: health, wealth, and glory or fame; so also of those that befall the unwilling and are caused by an exterior agent, there are likewise three causes: the loss of goods or damages, infirmities, and reproach or abuse. These things, however, befall some unto edification, but others unto destruction. 10. There spring up, as it were, certain offshoots: in the soul, namely, desire and sadness; but in the body, pleasure and pain. The cause, however, of pain is truly pleasure. For while we wish to avoid the burdensome sensation of pain, we flee toward pleasure: the cause of sadness or gloom, however, is desire or sickness. C 11. The virtuous man possesses the good as something internal, stored deep in his soul; but he who labors for vain glory has it merely thought of. The virtuous man, however, possesses evil only as if on the surface; but the lover of pleasure and the one devoted to it has it fixed deep in his breast. 12. He who hates evil is found to be engaged in it only rarely and not diligently; but he who is still affected by its causes is engaged in it more frequently and more attentively. 13. To those for whom repentance is not according to a settled purpose, sinning is also continuous; but to those for whom sinning is against their purpose, repentance is fully assured, and the cause of this is not frequent. D 14. Let sense and conscience be companions to the spoken word—that is, to the divine word, who said that He would be in their midst—so that he who has spoken may not blush on account of the impudence...
or the lack of measure in what is said or done.
15. He who does not wrong his soul by his deeds has not necessarily kept it undefiled by his words. Nor has he who keeps his tongue guarded necessarily not defiled his thoughts; for sin happens in this threefold manner.
16. You will not be able to see the face of virtue while you still take pleasure in contemplating vice. The latter will appear hateful only when you desire the taste of the former, and have estranged your sight from such a form.
17. It is by thoughts, and not principally by material things, that the demons war against the soul. For material things in themselves are necessary things; and of material things, the cause is hearing and sight, but of thoughts, the cause is habit and the demons. B
18. The part of the soul that can sin is threefold, being found in deeds, words, and thoughts. But the good of non-sinning is sixfold. For it is necessary to keep the five senses and the spoken word blameless. "In which he who does not stumble," it says, "is a perfect man, able also to bridle the body's members." (Jas. III, 2).
19. The irrational part of the soul is divided into six: into the five senses and the spoken word, which is divided together with the one suffering, remaining itself without passion; yet it takes on its vice when it is found to be subject to passion. C
20. Neither can the body be purified without fasting and vigils, nor the soul without mercy and truth; nor even the mind without contemplation and the conversation of God. For these are the most eminent pairings in these.
21. The soul, by circulating through the aforementioned virtues, makes its fortress impregnable from temptations; this is patience. For the Word says: "In your patience, possess your souls" (Luke XXI, 19). But if it were otherwise, like an unwalled city, it would be accustomed to being shaken violently by the bars of fear, even by outcries from far away. D
22. Not all who are prudent in matters of the word are also prudent in matters of the mind; but all who are prudent in matters of the mind will also be found prudent in matters of exterior perception. For even if perception has all things as tributaries, it does not receive the same tributes from them. For most, out of simplicity, do not know how to cultivate it as it itself desires.
23. While prudence is indivisible by nature, it is cut into different divisions. For to one is given a greater portion, and to another a lesser portion of it, until, once the active virtue has grown, and it has obtained the general virtues that converge with it, it fulfills what is possible for each...
A [24.] In those things which are according to nature, few are found to be prudent; but in those things that are contrary to nature, many. For, because of the fear that exists regarding them, having emptied out their entire natural prudence, they have but little prudence there, and the greatest part is occupied with superfluous things, which are not praiseworthy by nature.
[25.] Of reasonable silence, opportunity and measure are the fellow-feasters; and the banquet of this is truth, through which the father of lies, coming to a soul that is journeying abroad, finds nothing of the things he was seeking.
[26.] He is truly merciful who does not voluntarily provide superfluous things, but who grants necessary things to those who rob him.
[27.] Some, by means of earthly riches, acquire spiritual riches after the manner of almsgiving; others, by means of spiritual riches, renounce earthly ones, having perceived the taste of those that are incorruptible.
[28.] It is dear to everyone to be wealthy in good things; but it is painful to him who has been enriched by God, if he is not permitted to enjoy and delight in them for a long time.
[29.] Outwardly, the soul appears to be in health; but inwardly, at the very depth of its feeling, its infirmity lies hidden. If, therefore, it is entirely the case that it is so constituted that it proceeds outwardly through the cleansing of reproofs, and inwardly through the renewal of the mind, he is a fool who rejects reproofs, and who is not ashamed to lie forever in the hospital of insensibility B.
[30.] Do not be angry against him who unwillingly treats you with reproof; but rather, turning your eyes to the unpleasantness that has been purged away, lament yourself, and magnify God as the author of this dispensation and care for you.
[31.] Do not despond in your heart at the gravity of your infirmity; but through the diligent preparation and effort of more effective remedies, keep far from it, you who concern yourself with the health of the soul.
[32.] Do not shrink from him who strikes you at the proper time; but approach him, and he will show you where the evil that is scraping at your feeling lies hidden, and you shall consume the sweet food that comes from health, after the discardable stuff of bitterness has been consumed.
[33.] As much as you feel the pains, so much accept him who points them out to you as if with a finger through his reproofs. For he becomes for you the cause of perfect purification.
A without, the mind cannot exist in a pure place of prayer.
34. When one is being reproved, he must be silent; or, he should mildly excuse himself to the one who is telling him—not so that the one being reproved may establish his own position, but so that he may raise up the one who perhaps offends by reproving out of ignorance.
35. He who is well-disposed towards the one who unjustly causes him pain, before he is called upon by him, has suffered no loss of duty. But he who does so after the invitation loses half of the profit. However, he who is never found to be excluded from the communion of love due to grief gains all that was previously sown; and he who casts the fault upon himself in all things adds a reward to himself. B
36. Neither does the proud man know what his own defects are, nor does the humble man know his own good qualities. For, in the one case, foul ignorance hides them; in the other, they are hidden because they are acceptable to God.
37. The proud man does not wish to be measured against his equals in good things; but in contrary and evil things, he considers his own fault—when compared with those who excel—to be absolutely tolerable.
38. Blame is firm, but praise makes the soul dissolute and more sluggish toward good things.
39. The substance of wealth is gold; that of virtue is humility. As, therefore, he who lacks gold is poor, even if it is not apparent to those on the outside, so without humility, C the one who strives will not be virtuous.
40. Just as a merchant is not a merchant without gold, even if he is highly suited for trade, so without humility, the one who is in training will not be found in possession of the pleasures of virtue, even if he trusts entirely in his own shrewdness.
41. He who ascends through humility becomes lower in his own mind; but he who is without it becomes higher, and is unwilling to be measured even with the least among men. And because of this, he reveals his inward grief/distress in positions of honor.
42. It is good for the ascetic to think of himself as less than his own works, but to do things greater than his own fear and cowardice. For thus he will be found venerable to men D and an unashamed worker before God.
43. Either one must be perfected in all the commands of God, or—
he must diligently apply himself to humility, fearing lest he be found a stranger to those reclining at the wedding feast. B
44. Mix temperance with simplicity and join truth to humility, and having appeared, you shall be the dinner companion of righteousness, at whose table every other virtue loves to gather.
45. Truth is blind without humility. For this reason it uses contradiction as a pedagogue, speaking to it when it labors over something and finds nothing but the stronghold of resentment.
46. Good character testifies to the beauty of virtue, while the firm composure of the limbs testifies to a peaceful soul.
47. The first good is to fail in no part of one’s duty. The next is not to cover up one’s error out of shame, nor yet to grow brazen in it, but rather to be humbled, and when accused, to accuse oneself likewise, and to accept the penalty gladly. If this is not done, everything offered to God is invalid.
48. Along with voluntary suffering, one must also accept the involuntary—I mean that which comes from slanders, the loss of property, and illnesses. For he who does not accept these, but bears them indignantly, is like one who wishes to eat his bread not with salt, but with honey alone; he who does not always possess pleasure as a companion, but always has satiety as a neighbor.
49. Being a master, he appears wearing the form of a servant, C he who washes the torn garment of his neighbor with divine words or mends it with the bestowing of alms. Let him who does this take heed, lest, because he performs this as a servant, he lose—along with the reward that also belongs to him—the dignity of power due to the vice of vainglory.
50. Just as faith is the substance of things hoped for, so—in the soul, prudence; in virtue, humility. And it is a marvel how those things which are perfect in themselves remain imperfect if the incidental qualities are lacking.
51. The Lord will keep your coming in and your going out, it says; that is, of foods and of words, through temperance. For he who conducts himself temperately and soberly regarding the coming in and going out of foods and words avoids the desire of the eyes and calms the anger born of madness and insolence of soul; D this is that for which the one struggling must, before all else, by every means strive to take care. For in these things, the practical side is strengthened and the contemplative side is established.
52. But some take great care regarding the coming in of foods, while regarding the going out of words, they conduct themselves carelessly. Such men do not know, according to the opinion expressed in Ecclesiastes, that anger comes from the heart, while desire...
A from the flesh; by which the pure heart 11 is accustomed to be created by the Spirit, who makes all things new 12.
13. The lack of excess in food items will be found in the quality that is inferior to luxury; but the blamelessness of words will be found in the quantity that is superior to silence.
54. Scorch your reins with an abstinence from food, and test your heart with an abstinence from speech, and you will have your faculty of desire and your faculty of anger as servants B to the ministry of virtue.
55. The pleasure of the belly drops away among those who are undergoing training, as the body begins to wane; however, the irritants of the gullet still remain for one who has not yet punished it with the due vengeance. You must, therefore, endeavor by means of the cause to wipe away the reproach of the effect, so that you may not be found a stranger to the virtue of abstinence or continence in that place, and be put to shame.
56. It is necessary for the ascetic to know when and with which foods he ought to nourish his body as an enemy, and when to invite it as a friend, and C again to comfort it as an invalid; so that he may not inadvertently set before the friend what belongs to the invalid, and before the enemy what belongs to the friend, and as one who has scandalized both, find them both warring against him in a time of temptation.
17. When one who is being fed prefers food to luxury, then the grace of tears, having arrived, begins to comfort him and to cause him to forget all other sweetness, as these have now been swallowed up by an incomparable sweetness.
58. For the one who is expanding, the tears have contracted, but they have gushed forth for the one who has loved the narrow way.
59. There is no one without sorrow, neither a sinner nor a righteous man; but the one because he has not D completely abandoned evil, and the other because he has not yet attained the truly good.
60. Among the things in our power are virtues, prayer, and silence; among those not in our power, but which for the most part depend on the constitution of the body, are fasting and vigils. Therefore, that which is more readily available to the athlete, that he must practice and exercise.
61. The house of prayer is patience; for of it...
A substance and essence is humility, as it is nurtured by it.
62. You will not be honored with praises if you do not endure words; but by watching for the pain before the pleasure, you will avoid the annoyance of it.
63. Do not be bound to the lesser, and you will not serve the greater; for it is not in the nature of things that the greater evil should be formed before the lesser.
64. You who look toward greater things will be fearful to the lesser; but you will be seen as contemptible to them, if you have despaired of those greater things.
65. You will not be able to attain to the greater virtues if you have not first attained the pinnacle of those that are within your power.
66. In those things in which mercy and truth prevail, there also is everything that is pleasing to God. For the one judges no one without mercy as its companion; the other shows human kindness in nothing outside of truth. B
67. If you have tempered continence with simplicity, you will be in possession of the blessedness that comes from there.
68. You will never cut down all the passions that attack you unless you first leave the earth, from which they are nurtured, uncultivated.
69. Some strive to cleanse only the matter of the body; others, that of the soul as well. For some have received strength only against sin that is committed in deed; others, even against the affect and the vice or perturbation of the soul; but those who [strive] against desire are very few indeed.
70. Wicked matter is, for the body, carnal passion; for the soul, voluptuous affection; for the mind, however, a forward-leaning and prone affection. And as for these: touch pertains to the former; the remaining senses to the second; and against the last, the opposing disposition of the mind.
71. The one who is voluptuous is not far from the one who is possessed by passion; and one who is prone to affection is not far from the voluptuous. But far from both is the one who is free from affect—that is, C of an imperturbable mind.
72. He is possessed by passion who has the sinfulness of the intellect in a more violent way, even if for the time being he does not sin outwardly. He is voluptuous who has the act of sin weaker than the impulse of the intellect, even if he suffers it within. He is prone to affection who clings to freedom—or rather, to the servitude—of intermediaries. But he would be free from passion who is ignorant of the difference between all these things.
73. Passion is destroyed from the soul through fasting and prayer; voluptuousness through vigils and silence; and prone affection through stillness and attention. Freedom from passion is established through the remembrance of God.
74. From the tranquility of an imperturbable D soul... [index: entries preserved]
the words of eternal life distill. Who, then, would be found worthy to touch those lips with his own, and to lodge between her breasts, and to exchange the scent of his own garments for the sweet fragrance of hers? That is to say, to be sweetened by the laws of the virtues, which are said to be above all the spices of sensible perception. A 75. Every soul shall be stripped of the body that is seen; but of the body of sin, only those few who have enjoyed the pleasures of this present life shall be stripped. 76. All shall be seen as dead who were once living; but only those who have hated sin from the heart shall be dead to that sin. 77. Who can see himself stripped of sin before the common death of the body? And who is he that has known himself and his own nature, what it is before the future stripping?
Of the same.
A soul wounded by bridal love, Prayer knows how to unite thus to the Bridegroom. B78. The rational soul, situated on the boundary of sensible and intelligible light, is permitted through the former to see and do the things of the body, and through the latter, the things of the Spirit. Yet, because that light [of the intellect] has been darkened for it, while this [sensible light] has been made clear—due to the habit from the beginning—unless it wholly becomes one with the intelligible in prayer, it cannot gaze fully upon divine things. It is necessary for it to be on the boundary between darkness and light, moving according to its relationship with the one, and according to the imagination of the other. C 79. Let prayer remain with the mind like a ray of the sun; in the absence of which, anxieties related to the senses, like certain waterless clouds hovering about, keep the mind from its own brightness. 80. Inside the narrow gate of prayer, a passionate mind cannot enter before abandoning the anxiety that attaches it to things; but it will suffer, being forever occupied around the tents of that gateway. D 81. The power of prayer is voluntary hunger for food; and of that hunger, [the fruit is] to see and hear nothing, unless there is an absolute necessity, of any of the things of this world. He who does not take care for these things has neither firmly built the edifice of fasting, nor caused the edifice of prayer to be built within himself. 82. Unless the mind becomes free from all things that fall under sense, it cannot be borne upward and acknowledge its own dignity. 83. Prayer casts out from the soul all thoughts that fight against it, being empowered...
by the law of playfulness; if the one who exiles [them] has also made the cause of all evils, the license of speech, an exile as well.
A 84. Fasting is a symbol of day, because it is practiced openly and externally; prayer, [by contrast], is a symbol of night, because of its obscured and secret nature. Therefore, he who justly practices each of these in the other shall arrive at the city of the watchers B, in which pain, grief, and sighing have fled away in Christ.
85. Spiritual work is of such a nature that it can exist apart from bodily labor. Blessed, then, is the man who deems the immaterial work more precious than the material work. For by it, he has filled the lack in his work, living the hidden life of prayer, manifest to God. C
86. The Apostle exhorts us to persevere in faith, to rejoice in hope, and to be constant in prayer, so that the good of joy may remain with us. If this is so, then he who does not persevere is not faithful, and he who does not rejoice possesses no good hope; for he has cast away prayer, the cause of joy, by not being constant in it.
87. If the mind, having been occupied from the beginning with worldly thoughts, has acquired such D friendship with them, how much intimacy would it not possess in constant prayer? For it is said that in whatever things one lingers, in those one is accustomed to grow broad.
88. Just as the mind, having long been divided from its own dwelling, has forgotten its former brilliance, so it is necessary that, having attained oblivion of the affairs of this world, it should run back to that brilliance through prayer.
89. Just as an infant will be found [pressing] towards the breasts of its mother, so the mind will be found in relation to prayer, which it cannot soothe, but to that which otherwise...
B lulls it to sleep in her arms.
90. There, he says (in the mournful bed, clearly, of the studious life, let prayer speak to its lover just as the Bride in the Canticle [says]), "I will give you my breasts" 18; if only you entrust yourself to me wholly and completely.
91. One cannot acquire friendship with prayer who has not renounced all material things, except for food and clothing 19. Separate yourself from other things when you pray, if you wish to be alone with your mind.
92. The proof of a God-loving [soul] is monolithic prayer [c]; a word that is timely, of a prudent reasoning; and a uniform taste of the free perception. In these three, therefore, it is said that the health of the soul consists.
93. The nature of one who prays must be well smoothed and softened, like that of children, so that according to their disposition, it may easily and without resistance receive the development imparted by prayer. Therefore, do not be negligent, you who wish to be joined to it.
94. Not all have the same goal in prayer; one has one, and another has another. For there is one who prays so that, if it be possible, his mind may always be in prayer, and may, as it were, pass beyond its boundaries; and there is another who prays that he may not be interrupted by thoughts during it. All, however, pray either to be preserved in good things, or not to be led astray by the consent to evil.
95. If one prays from prayer, no one is lacking in humility; for he who prays in humility is crushed; therefore, one who is outwardly insolent does not pray in humility.
96. When praying D to any judge who is like the unjust judge 20, pay attention to your mind, and take care not to lose heart, even if you are slow to obtain the good things of prayer.
97. Prayer will not linger with one who is entangled in inward cogitations and outward conversation; yet it will be seen returning to him who, for its sake, cuts away the greater part of these.
98. Unless the words of prayer enter into the depths of the soul, the tears will not be permitted to flood the cheeks of the face.
99. Tears spring up for the farmer when he sees the seeds thrown onto the earth, not because of their appearance; but for the monk, they gush forth not without labor, as he traverses the words of prayer.
100. Prayer is the key to the kingdom of heaven. This [key] he who...
A holds and uses as he ought, sees the goods laid up for her friends. But he who does not have boldness in her, looks only at the present.
101. The mind cannot say to God with boldness while praying: "You have broken my bonds; I will offer you a sacrifice of praise," unless it has broken the soul away from laziness, sloth, sleepiness, and gluttony—from which arise transgressions—through the desire for higher things.
B 102. He who is distracted in mind during prayer stands outside the veil; he who prays with singular thoughts (that is, with a mind not wandering) enters within. But he alone looks into the Holy of Holies who, with the peace of natural thoughts, considers also those things which are above every thought of the mind regarding the Essence, and is thereby deemed worthy of a certain divine illumination from thence.
103. When the soul has found leisure from external things, then does prayer—like a flame wrapping around it—render it entirely as iron that has been once for all made fiery by the fire; it remains the same soul, but is no longer "tangible," just as iron glowing with fire cannot be touched from the outside.
104. Blessed is he who in this life has been deemed worthy to be thus perceived, and to behold his own naturally earthen statue made fiery by grace.
105. To those who are beginners, the law of prayer lies upon them like a master; but to those who have made progress, it is as a love that drives the hungry person toward a sumptuous feast.
106. To those who well pursue the practical life, C prayer is sometimes like a cloud that overshadows them and wards off burning thoughts; at other times, by sprinkling upon them drops as of tears, it demonstrates spiritual visions.
107. Song is indeed but the seasoning of a lyre struck by someone from without; but the soul, if there does not assist it in prayer the mystical address in the Spirit, is not naturally wont to be pierced with contrition. For that passage: "For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought," and what follows, leads the person praying to this.
By the same. The mind is illuminated by spiritual contemplation, When lifted to the heights, it meets these words.
108. It is necessary for the gnostic to know when his mind is in the realm of thoughts (conceptions), when it is in the realm of reasonings (images), and when it is in the realm of the senses. And in this realm, again, whether it is found in things that are timely or rather in things that are untimely. D
109. When the mind is not in the senses and conceptions, it is altogether in reasonings; and when it is in reasonings, it is not in conceptions. But when it has come into the sense, it is with all things.
A 110. Through the conception, the mind passes to intelligible things; through reasoning, the word passes to rational things; and through imagination, sense passes to the practical life.
111. When the mind is gathered into itself, it considers nothing of those things that are known by reasoning; but it contemplates naked minds and divine radiances, gushing forth peace and grace.
112. The mind of a thing is one thing, and its word is another; and that which is brought under the senses is yet another. The former is substance; the second, an accident; the third, the difference of the subject.
B 113. Cutting for itself many paths, the mind shows itself insatiable. But when it is gathered into the one path of prayer, before it has attained perfection, it appears to be constricted, entreating him who is a partaker to be dismissed to the things from which it had gone out.
114. Being led from on high, the mind will not return thither, unless it makes a perfect scorn of things below, through its leisure in seeking divine things.
115. If you are unable to make your soul dwell with only the thoughts that concern it, then force even your body to be solitary, constantly contemplating the misery that attaches to it; for thus, in the process of time, by the mercy of God, you will be able to return to the first dignity of your nobility.
C 116. The practical man can easily subject the mind to prayer, but the contemplative man subjects prayer to the mind. The one withdraws sense from the forms of appearances; the other transfers the soul to the reasons hidden in words. And the one persuades the mind to think of the reasons of bodies; the other, to understand the reasons of incorporeal things. For the reasons of bodies—their properties and their substances—are themselves incorporeal.
117. When you have freed your mind from the pleasure of bodies, foods, and riches, then whatever you do will be reckoned as a pure gift to God; and there shall be given to you, in return, the opening of...
[alt-version omitted]
D Maximus, not endowed with reason itself, but those things which are thus perceived by reason; and we are compelled to say "rational things," the same as the Greek terms, because they are not distinct terms, as they are—even if the authors are not sufficiently accurate in them, nor are they rarely confusing their meanings, but receiving what sounds passively, actively, and interchangeably.
(r) *Pleading with the partaker.* It pleased him better that it should be "the possessor." Beseeching him who is a spiritual man, full of the Spirit and advanced in prayer, and having attained its perfection; and who so quietly enjoys himself in it; out of impatience, forsooth, at the labor, so that he may not allow himself to linger in other things (that is, things addicted to action): and most especially, because that word also sometimes admits an active meaning. For thus he, detaining the spiritual Father in the exercise of prayer, asks that he might be dismissed from them, as if overcome by the labor of the movement.
A your heart’s eyes, and clearly meditate upon the laws of God hidden within it, which shall seem to your spiritual palate sweeter than honey and the honeycomb, by reason of the sweetness that pours forth from them.
118. You will not be able to make your mind superior to the desire for bodies, wealth, and necessary foods, unless you introduce it into the pure land of the righteous; in which the memory of death and of God, springing up again, shall erase from the earthly heart every growth of desire.
119. There is nothing more fearsome than the thought of death, nor more wonderful than the memory of God. For the one is the provider of salutary grief, while the other is the bestower of joy. For the Prophet says: "I remembered God, and I was glad." And the Wise Man: "Remember your last things, and you shall not sin." It is impossible for anyone to possess the second unless they have first tasted the bitterness of the first.
120. Until the mind has seen the glory of God with an unveiled face, the soul cannot say in its awareness: "But I will rejoice in the Lord, I will exult in my God my Savior." For the veil of self-love lies upon its heart, so that the foundations of the world (that is, the reasons of created things) are not revealed to it; nor shall it be taken away from it without labors voluntarily assumed and those brought upon it by external agency.
121. It is not after the flight from Egypt (which is sin committed by act), nor after the crossing of the sea (the servitude of passion overcome); but after the sojourn in the desert—the interval between the deeds and the movements of malice—that the leader of the people of Israel is permitted to explore the promised land (the state of the most tranquil and untroubled mind), by sending into it his own power of looking and inspecting from afar. B
122. Those who sit in the desert, that is, in the inaction of evils, have perceived the goods of that blessed land by hearing alone. But those who were also explorers, by usurping the things themselves with their eyes, understood them more subtly in their mind. Yet those who have been deemed worthy to enter into it were filled, with the whole of their perception, by the reasons flowing therefrom like milk and honey—these being, I say, the first and second contemplations.
123. He is not yet crucified with Christ who still has the natural movements of the flesh; nor is he buried with Him who is dragged along by the soul’s desires and cupidities; how then shall he rise with Him? C
A Qui ergo fiat, ut hic talis cum eo resurgat, ut in novitate vitæ ambulet?
124. B Since there are three more comprehensive virtues of the soul—fasting, prayer, and silence—it is necessary that he who is about to be released from prayer should rest in contemplation; he who is released from silence, in moral discourse; and he who is fasting, in secondary and permitted food.
125. As long as the mind remains in its own proper state, it preserves the likeness [to God], being found good and compassionate. But when it has become involved in sensible things, if it descends easily and [not] properly, giving and receiving an experience, though it might be vigorous and strong in those matters, should it return to itself when the occasion and need arise, it will be found like an imprudent general who has cut off much of his own strength in fighting. Yet not all will be found immune to this harm, as many, to be sure, as were unable to keep themselves within the enclosure.
126. The sensible sun does not cast its own rays out of a closed house; but the intelligible sun will not withhold its radiance from the soul that does not have its senses closed to the objects of sight.
127. He is a ‘Gnostic’ who manages his own descents magnificently, but orders the ascents of the soul with a sense of humility. C
128. A bee, roaming around a meadow, gathers the materials for honey from there; so the soul, looking out over the ages, injects a varied sweetness into its intellect from them.
129. The deer, having eaten snakes, runs to the fountains of water to quench [the poison]; so the soul, wounded by divine arrows, draws incessantly upon the Love that wounded it.
130. Simple thoughts grow upon the solitary life; secondary thoughts upon the life of two; while upon the multidimensional life, [those which are manifold...]. D
and late-lingering persist. But for the soul that is divided by many things, while thoughts withdraw, minds alone—stripped of bodies—approach it, revealing the reasons regarding Providence and judgment, like certain foundations of the earth. A
131. Thoughts belong neither to the irrational part of the soul—for there is no thought (that is, reasoning) in brutes—nor to the intellectual part—since there is none in angels. But being the offspring of the rational faculty, utilizing the imagination as a ladder, they ascend to the mind from the senses, reporting the things of the latter to it, and they descend to the former from the mind, suggesting to it the things of the mind. B
132. Just as some, emerging from the depths and attempting to take hold of someone for help, will find evil thoughts, like a raft, when vice is endangered by a deluge of tears.
133. According to the underlying quality of the soul, thoughts gather around it, either as pirates to sink it, or as rowers to lend help to it in its peril at sea; some dragging the mind into the deep of base thoughts, while others, skirting along the shore, steer the mind toward tranquil havens. C
134. Of the seventh thought, that of vainglory, which the soul, desiring to cast off as a final tunic, cannot—if it has not stripped itself of those before it—put on an eighth [thought] after them, which the divine Apostle knew to call a heavenly dwelling, and to put on through groaning those who for its sake have been stripped of earthly things. D
135. Thoughts that are angelic are accustomed to associate with perfect prayer; spiritual thoughts with intermediate prayer; and natural thoughts with introductory prayer.
136. Just as the nobility of the grain is accustomed to be manifested through the ear of corn, so too is the sincerity of contemplation through prayer. And the ear, as if armed, has certain pikes around the beards, which ward off birds gathering seeds; and prayer [has] those thoughts that philosophize during temptations, for the destruction of those [temptations].
137. The things of the soul that are visible, because of its action, are like wings of a dove, silvered...
OTHER VATICAN CHAPTERS
A But those things which are understood by the mind (namely the back-parts, or the reverse) are established by the office of contemplation in the pallor of gold; for the soul that has not been made beautiful in this way is unable to fly and rest, where there is the habitation of all who rejoice.
A meadow here, teeming with fruits, Of spiritual action and contemplation.
138. Of old it was ordained for the ancients that they should offer the first-fruits of the threshing-floor and the winepress B in the temple. But now it behooves us to offer to God Himself the first-fruits of action—namely, continence and truth—and of that virtue which shines through contemplation, charity and prayer: by the former, cutting off the impulses of irrational desire and anger; by the latter, [dashing] empty notions and the deceits and frauds that spring from them.
139. The beginning of the practical life is continence, humility, truth, temperance, and chastity; its end is the peace of the reason and the sanctification of the body.
140. Action is not merely to be able to do good things well, but also to do them as it behooves, [the agent] bringing with him, to the things that are to be done, the occasion and the due measure.
141. Contemplation is not only to consider how bodies are by nature, C but also to consider the reasons of their existence, and to what they look.
142. There is no sure action without contemplation, nor true contemplation without action. For action must be learned and imbued with reason, and contemplation must cling to action; so that, on the one hand, wickedness may be found weak, and on the other, virtue may be powerful for performing the mildest duties that one may choose.
143. The end of practical matters is the mortification of the passions; the end of the gnostic [life] is the contemplation of virtues.
144. As matter is to form, so is action to contemplation; and as the eye is to the face, so shall contemplation be seen in relation to action.
145. In the stadium of practical virtue, D many run, but one receives the prize, he who desires to reach its end by the shortcuts of contemplation.
146. The practical man drinks the drink of compunction in prayer; but he who is contemplative is inebriated by the best cup, [he] who strives...
to philosophize upon the things that are by nature, while the other, in prayer, does not even know himself. A
147. The man of action is not permitted to remain for long in spiritual contemplation. For he is found like one who has been received by someone as a guest, and who quickly departs from that person’s house.
148. The practical men enter by the gates of the commandments of God in prayer; but the contemplative ones [enter] into the courts of the virtues in hymns; the former giving thanks that they have been released from their chains, the latter, because they have also taken as captives those who were warring against them. B
149. One must stand according to the strength of one’s practice and one’s contemplation, so that one does not, like a ship not equipped with suitable and proper sails, either incur danger during the violence of the winds because of the excessive size of those [sails], or suffer the loss of the gales because of their smallness in proportion to the ship.
150. Consider the pious thoughts to be the oarsmen of the rational ship; and the vital faculties of the soul—that is, irascibility, desire, intention, and foresight—to be the oars. The man of action has need of these always; but he who practices contemplation does not always need them. For at the time of prayer, having bid farewell to all these, he stations himself at the helm of discernment, having passed the whole night awake in contemplation, offering praises to the sustainer of all things. And sometimes, having taken up some erotic melody, he sings it to his own soul, observing the surges of the rest of the sea, and, as if at the trembling movements, he is struck with wonder at the divine words and commandments. C
151. He who holds a middle position regarding practice and contemplation does not make the voyage entirely by means of oars according to the rowers, nor entirely by means of intellectual sails, but he fulfills the use of a fortunate navigation by means of both; cheerfully bearing the labors of practice, because of the moderate light of contemplation, and [bearing] the reasons of an incomplete contemplation, because of the help afforded by practice.
152. The contemplative man, having nature as a follower in accord with his will, like a secondary natural current, makes the voyage without labor; but the cultivator of action, finding the disposition opposing his choice, is shaken more harshly by the storm of colliding thoughts, and it is a small thing that he does not lose heart because of the weariness of the labor. D
153. Just as land that has not been well tilled is not accustomed to return a rich and pure harvest to the sower, so neither does he who pursues the practical life, unless he pursues it painstakingly and without all boasting, see the abundant and pure fruit that comes from prayer.
A 154. In material things, the mind has reasoning as an assistant; but in spiritual matters, and those which are outside of matter, unless it has cast this aside, it will have it like a stinging thorn. 155. The one who applies himself to action has a veil placed over his heart in prayer, being unable to have revealed to him the knowledge of those things which fall under the senses, because he is devoted to them by [passionate] affection; but he who applies himself to contemplation, because he is rich and free, can see the glory of God in part with an unveiled face. 156. Prayer accompanied by spiritual contemplation is the land of promise, in which knowledge of the reasons of God's providence and judgment flows like honey and milk. That which is accompanied by a certain natural [speculation] is Egypt, through which the memory of the crasser desires creeps into those who are praying. But simple prayer is the manna in the desert, which, because it was uniform, closed off the good things of the promises to those who could not endure the stain of desire; but for those who would constantly feed on that narrow food, it provided a superior and lasting taste. 157. Action supported by contemplation is as a body with a guiding spirit; but without contemplation, it shall be reckoned as flesh with a spirit of free will. 158. Of the rational soul, the [outer] courtyard is the sense; the temple is the mind; the high priest is the intellect. Thus, the intellect is occupied in the courtyard if it is cut off by untimely thoughts; it is in the temple if by timely ones; but he who has been deemed worthy to enter into the divine sanctuary is in neither of these. 159. Lamentation and a song and woe are found in the house of the practical soul because of the toil; but the voice of exultation and confession is heard because of the knowledge of the contemplative one. 160. The practical person desires to depart B because of the toils, and to be with Christ; but the contemplative one prefers rather to remain in the flesh, both because of the joy which he receives from prayer, and because of the benefit to his neighbor in those things which are earthly. 161. In those who are more learned and endowed with wisdom, contemplation precedes action; but in the more unrefined, action precedes contemplation; yet both end in one good goal. But this will be seen more quickly in those for whom contemplation precedes action.
A 162. Contemplation is the paradise of intelligible things. The gnostic enters therein as though into his own house and into prayer; but the practitioner will be seen as a wayfarer, desiring indeed to look within, but not being permitted to do so, because the wall of his spiritual stature rises somewhat above him.
163. Corporeal passions are like beasts; but the affections of the soul are like birds. The man of action can indeed fence off those of the first kind from the rational vineyard as though by a hedge; yet he cannot [fend off] the birds, unless he has attained to spiritual contemplation, however diligent a care he may have taken in guarding the things of the soul.
164. The practitioner cannot surpass moral propriety unless he himself also goes out, like the patriarch Abraham, out of his home, out of the natural law, and out of relationship, from the life that is coeval with him and that which clings to desire. For in this way he too will receive a seal, by which the general pleasure and desire are to be taken away; by means of which the veil that has been wrapped around us from birth does not allow us to be gifted with full freedom.
B 165. Neither can a colt in spring remain inside a manger and endure to eat its fodder, nor can a mind [(e)] that is newly initiated long endure the narrowness of prayer, and be assiduous in it; rather, in the manner of the colt, it delights to go out more toward the breadth of natural contemplation, which is found during the chanting of psalms and the reading of lessons.
166. Active life has fasting and continence as though its loins were girded, [protecting] its vital faculties; C but contemplative life has the virtues of silence and prayer—which are wise and learned—as burning lamps, standing over them; the one setting the reason over those [vital faculties] as a tutor; the other [setting] the indwelling Word over these [contemplative virtues], as a master of ceremonies for a wedding.
167. An imperfect mind is not permitted to enter into the fruitful vineyard of prayer; but only, and with difficulty, like a poor man [glimmering after] the grape-gleanings, [it reaches] the bare sounds of the psalms.
168. Just as not all who enter into the presence of a king are able to feast with him, so neither do all who come to the encounter of prayer become partakers of the contemplation contained therein.
D 169. For anger, the bridle is timely silence; for irrational desire, a temperate manner of eating. But for a mind that is difficult to restrain and wanders trouble-somely, the [remedy is] constant, single-minded prayer.
170. Whoever wishes to descend into the deep below, and whoever wishes to ascend into the deep above—the one for the sensible pearl, the other for the intelligible pearl—in order that he may draw it up,
unless both are stripped, one of his garment and the other of sensation, neither shall be master of that for which he labors in his search.
[1441/1442] A 171. The mind that has gathered itself within during prayer will be found like a bridegroom conversing with his bride in the bridal chamber. But he who is not permitted to enter, standing outside, cries out in lamentation: "Who will lead me into a fortified city? Or who will be my guide until I no longer look toward vanities and false madness while praying?"
172. As food thought to be without salt is to the throat, such will prayer be considered for the mind practicing it if compunction does not accompany it.
173. The soul still pursuing prayer is like her who is in labor; but she who has attained it is like the one who has brought forth, and becomes full of joy because of the birth.
174. In times past, the Amorite dwelling in the mountain would strike out and wound those who were forcing their way across. B Now, however, an evil forgetfulness pursues those who, not yet having attained purity, attempt to ascend to the higher, simple prayer.
175. Demons are by nature in great enmity with pure prayer. They are struck with terror by it, not by a multitude of good things, as a body of troops strikes external enemies, but by the concord of the three: the mind with the reason, and the reason with the sensation.
176. Simple prayer shall appear as bread, strengthening those who are beginning; that which contains some contemplation, as oil, making [one] fat; C and that which is devoid of form, as a fragrant wine, from which those who are filled beyond measure are transported and, as it were, rave.
177. The wild ass is said to mock the crowded city; and the unicorn cannot be tethered by anyone. Thus the mind, having acquired dominion over nature and the accounts pertaining to nature, mocks hollow thoughts while praying; nor can it be brought under the power of any of those things that fall under sensation.
178. The one struggling must confine his sensation D to a single form of sustenance, and force his mind to the monological-prayer. For, having thus become detached from the passions, he will attain, in praying, to being caught up to the Lord.
A 179. Canes ferociously attack those who intend to hold a staff against them; such also do demons attack, who strive to discharge their prayer in purity.
180. Voluptuous and lustful men, because they are earthbound, have thoughts that distract them like frogs; but as for those whose affections have been brought to moderation, they possess contemplations that delight them like nightingales, moving from one branch to another—that is, among various notions. Finally, for those who, having become free from the passions, have ascended to the citadel of tranquility, there is a vast silence and rest from thoughts and reasonings and concepts during prayer.
181. Long ago, Mary the sister of Moses, having seen the slaughter of the enemies, took up the timbrel and led the choir of women in songs of victory. But now, in praise of the soul that has proven itself victor over the vices and passions, Charity, holding the primacy among the virtues and having been awakened, takes into her hands the cithara with its song—as if it were a certain contemplation, long ago labored over for the abundance of its beauty—and she does not cease, rejoicing with those who accompany her, to praise God.
182. When, through the constancy of prayer, the oracles of the Psalms have become fixed in the heart of the one praying, then he himself, like good soil, begins spontaneously to bring forth—as if they were roses, the contemplation of incorporeal things; as if they were lilies, the luminous reasons and concepts of bodies; and as if they were violets, the varied and not easily grasped consideration of the divine judgments.
183. Flame, when bound to matter, becomes light-bearing; but the soul, when released from matter, is found to be God-bearing. For the former is naturally inclined to rise only until its fuel is spent; but the latter, up to the conclusion and consummation of divine love. B
184. The soul that has perfectly denied itself and has wholly devoted itself to prayer does not come down to earth when it pleases, for it exists above creation; rather, it does so when it shall seem just and right to Him who arranges and governs all human affairs by weight and measure.
185. When sloth has been driven from the soul, and iniquity and perversity have been shaken from the mind, then the intellect, becoming naked in its simplicity, and in an unadorned life—without any covering of shame and without the garment of vain glory—itself sings a new song to God; and striking up a melody in exultation, it gives thanks, because it anticipates with joy the dedication of the future life.
186. When the praying soul begins to experience certain more divine energies, and begins to be moved by them, then it also, like the Bride in the Song of Songs, sings in return to those of similar character: "My brother put his hand through the opening, and my belly trembled for him." C
187. When a soldier returns from battle, he lays aside the weight of his arms; and the practitioner, having laid aside the thoughts, makes his way into the...
contemplation. For neither does the former, except in war, have need of arms, nor the latter of thoughts. A
188. The practitioners look upon bodies as they have their position; but the contemplative look upon them according to their nature and character; yet it is the Gnostics (that is, the wise and spiritual) alone who see the reasons of both.
189. In the reasons of bodies, the incorporeal things are known; but in the incorporeal, there is the superessential Word, toward whom every diligent soul hastens to escape.
190. The reasons of bodies are as bones hidden by the things of the senses, which no one sees unless he has departed from the passion and affection for such things. B
191. Then the soldier, having left behind the war, lays down his arms; and the contemplative, having resolved himself toward the Lord, lays down his thoughts.
192. And the general, when he misses the spoils in war, is saddened; and the practitioner, in prayer, is the same if he does not have the spiritual contemplation.
193. The deer runs to the springs of the waters of bodies, being bitten by a wild beast; but the soul, wounded by the sweetest dart of prayer, reaches out toward the splendors of the incorporeal. C
194. Neither can the bodily eye see the grain of wheat, nor the practitioner's mind see its own nature, unless it be stripped—the former of its husk, the latter of the relationship that covers it.
195. The stars are hidden at the rising of the sun; but the thoughts fail when the mind returns to its own kingdom.
196. After the end of the practical life, the spiritual contemplations, poured around the mind like certain rays of the sun peeping over the horizon, seem to strike it from the outside, D though they are its own, and because of its purity, they embrace it as if they were kin to it.
197. Such things, too, the contemplative mind can utter when it has descended from above, from heaven, inclined by the necessities of nature; such as he who said: "What is more wonderful than divine beauty? And what concept is more gracious than that of God’s magnificence? And what love is so sharp and unbearable as that which is brought about by God in a soul cleansed of every vice, and which, from its disposition, says: 'I am wounded by love'?"
198. It is for that soul to say: "My heart grew hot within me, and in my meditation the fire will kindle," which
A does not faint in labor by following God through prayer, nor does it desire to see the day of man.
199. Let the soul that is a cultivator of action, after casting off the burden of evils, also say, like the Spouse in the Canticle, when evil demons and thoughts are again bringing force to bear upon it, so that it might look upon vanities and false madnesses: "I have put off my tunic, how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet, how shall I defile them?"
200. O religious and pious soul, which dares to say to God: "Tell me, O good Shepherd, where you pasture your sheep, B where you make your lambs to lie down at midday, that by following these I may not become as one wandering among the flocks of companions."
201. The practical soul, seeking to grasp the discourse of prayer and not being able, cries out, even itself, according to that in the Canticles: "Upon my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loved: I sought him, and I did not find him. I called him, and he did not hear me." I will arise, therefore, through more laborious prayer, and I will go about in the city, through the streets and the squares, and I will seek him whom my soul loved. Perhaps he will be found by me, who is in all this and outside of all; C I shall be satisfied when his glory appears to me.
202. When the soul has begun to be all tears from the joy concerning prayer, then it also, assuming confidence as if toward its own Bridegroom, cries out: "Let my kinsman descend into his garden, and let him eat of my fruits, the consolation earned through labor."
665 203. When the soul that is a cultivator of action begins, from the greatness and beauty of created things, to admire the Creator himself, and to delight largely in the pleasure that is from them, it also, being fulfilled with this, cries out in stupefaction: "How beautiful you have become, O Bridegroom, D and how fair!"
A Your bridal chamber is flowered, O Spouse, paradise of your Father. The flower of the field, and your cedars are as the cedars of Lebanon. Under his shadow I desired and sat, and his fruit was sweet in my throat.
B 204. If he who receives a king into his chamber is found to be so illustrious and glorious, and full of all other joy, what occurs to the soul which, by being purified, has received the King of kings, according to His own truthful promise? And what will it not expel, throwing out of doors that which does not seem to lead to His rest; and what will it not bring in, admitting with eagerness that which is pleasing to Him?
205. He who expects to be called by a king on the morrow, what other cares will revolve in his mind, than that he should himself carefully think upon and meditate on the words by which he is to gain his favor? Whoever shall observe this, will not appear unprepared for the future judgment.
C 206. Blessed is the soul which, because it expects its Lord to come today, considers the labor of the whole day as nothing; nor even the labor of the night, because He is about to manifest His presence to it early in the morning.
207. God indeed sees all; but they see God, who behold nothing while they are at prayer. And as many as see God are also heard by Him; but those who are not heard, do not see Him. Blessed, however, is he who believes that he is seen by God; for his foot shall not be moved, for the sake of His good pleasure.
D 208. The good things of the kingdom which is within us, the worldly eye has not seen; the ambitious ear has not heard, nor has it ascended into a heart void of the Holy Spirit. Truly, they are earnest-monies of those good things which shall be given to the righteous in the future kingdom of Christ. And he who does not take delight in these (which are the fruits of the Spirit), cannot attain to the enjoyment of those others.
209. The reasonings of the practical are like the deer. For just as they are sometimes above on the mountains for fear of the hunters, and sometimes below in the valleys because of the desire for the things in them; so also are these: they can neither always be in spiritual contemplation, because of their own frailty; nor always in the natural, because they do not always seek that rest and quiet. But the contemplatives of the soul easily despise humble thoughts.
210. Drops of dew [/D]
and the affections of the soul in prayer are tears of compunction drawn from the heart.
211. A Of the Godhead understood in the Trinity, no one shall be seen in contemplation, if he has not from above seen the material duality and the neighboring monad ; nor shall he become higher than this, if he has not made his own mind of a single kind in the things that are understood.
212. It will not be found as difficult to obstruct the path of a river so that it is not borne downward, as it is to curb the impulse of the mind so that it is not dissipated among visible things (that is to say, earthly ones), but is gathered toward those things that are aloft and akin to it, whenever the one praying wishes; even though the former is in accordance with nature, while the latter is contrary to nature.
213. Those who, while purifying themselves, cast their mind within B (beyond) the things perceived by sight, are filled with such amazement and filled with such joy that they can contain nothing else of earthly things, not even if all the things to be desired were to flow toward them.
214. The stated laws of nature alone are sufficient for triggering the greatest admiration; but when they are contemplated, they are found to be wide, flowery meadows which, like heavenly nectar, profusely pour forth the delights of a more refined spiritual banquet with immortal flowers.
215. Bees settle around the queen of the swarm amidst the dewy flowers of the meadows; so, too, do the intelligent powers, C as if encircling the soul that is incessantly in a state of compunction, desire its spiritual treasures with united prayers, since they are from its own heart.
216. In the visible world, man is seen as a kind of other world; but in the intelligible world, it is the reason. For the latter is a messenger of heaven and of the things that are contained within the vault of heaven to the former; while the reason is an interpreter of the mind and of the senses and of the things pertaining to them, without which both worlds would be mute.
217. A captive transformed by time does not go forth as the mind, liberated from material attachments, goes toward heavenly things as toward its own possessions with a rejoicing step.
218. D To him who prays without attention, but with a scattered mind, the psalm will be considered barbaric, and he himself in turn will be considered barbaric by the psalm; and both, as if they were madmen, will be so in the judgment of demons. 1 Cor. xiv, 11.
OTHER CHAPTERS FROM THE VATICAN MANUSCRIPT
219. A It is not the same thing to those for whom the world has been crucified, and to those who have been crucified to the world. For to the former, the nails are fasting and vigilance; but to the latter, it is the renunciation of possessions and contempt for self. Moreover, without the latter, the labors of the former are of no fruit.
220. He cannot pray with a pure mind who is held captive by passion for elegance [(j)] and for glory. For toward these things, the attachments and the thoughts of vanity have their intimacy; they become like ropes binding him, pulling him down like a little bird trying to fly away at the time of prayer.
221. It is impossible for the mind to become peaceful in prayer if it has not acquired temperance and loving affection. For the former strives to dissolve the feud that exists against the soul from the body, and the latter, the one that exists against one's neighbor for the sake of God. B And from this, the peace that surpasses all understanding, arriving to dwell there, has promised to make its abode in him who has thus made peace with himself and his own affairs [Galat. iv, 7; Phil. iv, 7; Joan. xiv, 23].
222. It is necessary for him who is striving to enter into the kingdom of God to abound in good works of justice; namely, in almsgiving, by providing from that which he lacks [Matth. v, 20; Marc. xii, 44; Luc. xxi, 4]; and regarding labors, for the sake of peace, by that deprivation [(k)] of endurance in the Lord.
223. Neither he who is deficient in virtue through negligence, nor he who is excessive in it through pride, will be found within the harbor of dispassion. C For neither has become a participant in the goods of justice, as a mediator is found for them—that of deficiency and excess.
224. Neither will the earth, unless it grants the laborer a much greater yield, make him prosperous and lacking nothing by merely providing the seed or even some small addition; nor can the work that is being done by one who is active be able to render him just before God, if his zeal is not found to be greater than his intention and purpose.
225. Neither can all those who do not love their neighbor hate him, nor can those who do not hate him love him; and it is one thing to begrudge someone his virtue, and another not to be an obstacle to him in his progress. D Yet that will be found to be the ultimate wickedness, which…
A not only bites at his virtues, but also slanders his good deeds, as though they were not what they are.
226. Some are affections of the body, others of the soul; some are according to nature, others contrary to nature. Whoever, therefore, pushes away some but takes no concern for others, is like a man who builds a high and canopy-covered fence to keep out wild beasts, yet gladly allows the birds to eat the conspicuous grapes of his rational vineyard.
227. First, the soul enters into the fantasy of evil; then it moves into desire; then into pleasure or sorrow; then in this way it enters into perception; then, after that, into touch—the obvious and intangible one. In all these, the inward reasonings and thoughts accompany it, except in the very first movement. If this is not admitted, everything that follows it as evil will be found to be inoperative.
228. Those who approach dispassion are not shaken B by fantasies; the temperate are not shaken by desires; those who are pleasure-prone are held by attachments. Those who are in the "perception" of evil are those who use the necessities of life, yet do so with sorrow; those in "touch" are those who engage with it without sorrow, and without any resistance.
229. Pleasure is firmly established in all the limbs of the body, yet it does not appear to hinder everyone in the same way; but in some it exerts its strength more in the concupiscible part of the soul, in others in the irascible part, and in others still in its rational part, through gluttony, irascibility, and wickedness—the parent and author of all unholy passions.
230. So, therefore, it is necessary to open the senses like the gates of a city. But one must be careful, lest while we open them for necessities, we at the same time allow those things to enter that favor the enemy and become the cause of battle and discord.
231. The activity of pleasure is desire; of anger, it is irascibility; of envy, it is wickedness. One does not have peace with the extremes who does not struggle C against their leaders; nor can one enter the harbor of D moderation who performs the commandments by force, and as it were, under compulsion.
[232.] Those who repel the suggestions do not allow thoughts like wild beasts to enter within the rational vineyard, nor do they allow them to establish themselves in its meadow. But those who join hands with them, while they allow them to enter, do so only on the condition that they touch nothing of what is therein. Those also who gladly converse with the passions through thoughts, yet do not arrive at consent, are like those who have allowed the wild boar to enter within the fence, but have not permitted him to be satisfied with the grapes of the vineyard; afterwards they have found him stronger than their own power, being often discovered giving consent to the passions.
[233.] He has not yet reached simplicity who still needs the care of a fence, which is continence. For he who is perfect, he says, is not continent. He is indeed like one possessing a vineyard or a field, not in the midst of many other vineyards and places, but in some corner; and he therefore has need of much watchfulness and sobriety. For to him who has reached simplicity, the vineyard becomes untouchable from every side, as though it belonged to a king or some other formidable potentate, causing thieves and passers-by to shudder at the attempt merely upon hearing of it.
[234.] Many ascend the cross of affliction; but few accept its nails: many are servants of voluntary obedience, but only those who have destroyed the passion of an ambitious spirit are servants of involuntary confusion and shame.
[235.] Many have put off all garments of skin; but as the final one, that of vainglory, [they...]
have abominated its mother, self-complacency. A
256. He who approves of the praise of men and bodily comfort, but does not accept them, has become stripped of the final tunic of vainglory; and he has been deemed worthy to be clothed, even from here, with the brightness of that heavenly dwelling-place which we seek out with much straining of our sighs.
257. Energy is one thing, and a product of energy another. The former is a sign of a completed sin; the latter, of pleasure alone, actively working within the soul but not outwardly produced. Just as those who are not exiled from their own land, yet pay tribute in those things which are desired by their oppressors, according to the will of their masters. B
258. When taste holds sway in pleasures, it is impossible that all the senses not be drawn to follow along with it, even if in those who are colder, the belly’s parts seem to be held in peace, such as the aged, who do not feel the burning of the fire. Yet, a sterile woman who commits adultery will not be judged chaste in her reproductive parts. I would call anyone chaste who does not commit fornication, nor finds pleasure in unchaste sights.
259. In foods, forms, and sounds, the desiring power of the soul is tested, that is, in the appetites for willing and refusing in taste, sight, and hearing; whether one uses them as one should, or abuses them, or is found to be in a middle state between the two. C
260. In those where fear does not lead, the thoughts will be found in confusion, like sheep not having a shepherd. But in good order, and followed within the fold by the rule of proper conduct, or led by it, they are kept safe.
261. Fear is the son of faith; but fear is the shepherd of the commandments. And he who has not obtained its mother will not be deemed worthy to be seen as a sheep of the Lord’s pasture. D
262. Some possess only the beginnings of virtues; others, also their middle states; and others, also their ends. Without these, each person will be found to be a mere foot-soldier or an honorary officer, not at all gifted with a bounty or rightful provisions. And for this reason, the one perhaps only preserves his own house, and that with difficulty, from the injury of those attempting to violate it; the other is not found in the honor appropriate to the places where he might happen to be present.
263. Those who invite us to indulge in pleasures, because we are perfect, act just like those who command us to dig up or cut open wounds that are already healed and covered with a scar, to scratch the itch for the sake of the pleasure of it, or to eat those things which light up a fever, or... [(p)] ...further discipline is not needed; and this, the incautious (led by the spirit) draw toward bodily laxity, and in those things that can be indifferent, truly profane heretics draw it toward base and nefarious lusts. Maximus takes excellent care against these, concluding his golden, truly ascetic chapters—which, according to the norm of Christ, strengthen one for every virtue—with such a holy ending.
to kindle a fever; or to obstruct the vineyard with a wall and a fence, and to allow the prudence of the flesh, like a wild boar, to enter in and graze upon the grapes, just as A with good thoughts. We must be on our guard not to yield to these things, nor to be swayed by the untimely flatteries of men and of passions; but rather to fortify the enclosure through temperance, until the beasts (namely, carnal passions) cease to roar, and the vain thoughts, like birds, cease to descend to lay waste to the soul, which, like a vine, is enriched and made fruitful by contemplations in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
OF SAINT MAXIMUS
From the LXIII Dubia, to the most divine king of Achrida
For the Holy Spirit, just as He is by nature essentially of God and the Father, so too does He exist essentially by nature of the Son, as one who proceeds substantially from the Father, through the Son (who was born in a manner that no words can explain). Therefore, there is no way that any section or division C is to be understood, as if one could conceive of the Father without the Son, or the Son without the Spirit; but there is in them a union and a distinction that is unspeakable and beyond understanding; so that neither does the distinction of the persons break apart the connection of their natures, nor does the union according to essence confuse the property of those things which signify and, as it were, distinguish them. And there is in them... a distinction joined, and a joined distinction.
Indeed, to help gain knowledge of this matter, an obscure example, or rather a shadow of the truth, may be set before our eyes: the rainbow, which shines in the sky with its manifold colors. D For all the radiances of the colors in it appear to be distinct, because they gleam brightly from afar, and yet they seem to be joined, because the boundaries of the mixtures—those which differentiate the diversities of the colors—elude the keenness of our eyes; so that it is in no way possible to discover where the fiery glow, or the emerald, or the greenish-hue ends in its own redness, and where it begins. This is, I believe, so that the discourse may instruct us through creation, that we might not be troubled by unfamiliar feelings in discussions concerning dogmas, when, having stumbled upon what is difficult to contemplate, we become dizzy in seeking assent to what is said. For just as with things visible to the eyes, experience is superior to speech, so also with those dogmas which transcend: let faith be superior to that which is grasped by the calculations of our minds.