Book on the Contempt of the World

480, and in that same codex is fol. 224, Isaac's epistle to a certain friend; and fol. 262, another to the abbot Simeon. In Florence, in the Laurentian codex 9, n. 13, shelf 11, there is a sermon *On Renunciation and Monastic Discipline*. See Bandini, *Catalogus bibliothecae Laurentianae*, I, p. 504, who however does not carefully distinguish this Isaac from Isaac of Antioch, and teaches that the same is cited in the exposition of the sacred precepts, both by John Cantacuzenus against Palamas, and in the *Collection of Ascetic Chapters*, ibid., p. 99, 348, and 495. — Ibid., in codex 41, shelf 3, there is Isaac's *Life* and *Eleven Orations*, the first of which is on the inheritance of Cleonimus, according to Montfaucon in *Bibliotheca bibliothecarum manuscriptorum*, I, p. 251 D. — Ibid., in the same codex, according to p. 386 B, there is an epistle to Simeon. In codex 13, shelf 74, of the Escorial, are diverse chapters on ascetic conversation, according to Pluer in *Itinerarium per Hispaniam*, p. 178. — In Paris, in the public library, there are ascetic sermons, sometimes more, sometimes fewer, in seven codices (see the index to the Catalogue of the Royal Manuscripts of Paris, under the entry "Isaac Syrus", vol. II). *Questions and Answers on Moral Doctrine* are in codex 1074, in which there are besides, by the same Isaac, *On obedience and institutes*, and twenty-eight sermons; and in codex 1073, n. 1 (in the *Appendix* to the cited volume of the *Catalogue*, p. 615), is the work *On the Monastic Life*, divided into various homilies: beginning "The soul that loves God...". — Ibid., in vol. I of the *Catalogue*, p. 52 and 58, in Syriac codices 10 and 71, there are various prayers of Isaac of Nineveh and others; and p. 120, in Arabic codex 166, is the same author's work *On Penance*; and p. 120, in Syriac codex 168, is Isaac the Syrian's *Homily on the Causes of Sins*. In Milan, in the codices of the Ambrosian library, are three *Orations of Isaac the Anchorite* on renunciation and the monastic life in Mount Sinai; as well as (under the name of Isaac the priest of Antioch) 89 *Ascetic Sermons*, and his *Questions and Answers*; *On the Perfection of Contemplation* (see Montfaucon, *Bibliotheca bibliothecarum manuscriptorum*, I, p. 500 E and p. 548 D). The same author enumerates many codices in which the *Ascetic Sermons* of Isaac of Nineveh are preserved: e.g., in Rome in the Vatican Library, p. 9 E, where Isaac is called "monk Uras" — p. 27 D, codex 636, formerly of Queen Christina of Sweden. — p. 45 A and p. 145 B, codex 7496. — p. 134 A, among the Cottonian codices of Stephani, *Book on the Contempt of the World*; — p. 184 D and E, among the Ottobonian codices, *On Prayer*, an excerpt from Isaac and others; — p. 201 D, *Sermons of Isaac the Syrian*, p. 1313 D, in the Mazarin codex; — p. 1320 A, in Mazarin codex 103, *Sermons and Ascetic Opuscula of Isaac of Nineveh*; — p. 1375 B, in the codex of St. Victor, Paris, *Abbot Isaac on the Soul that Loves God*; — p. 293 C, Florence, in Laurentian codex 15, shelf 27, *The book of Abbot Isaac of Syria on the monastic life*. HARL.

Book of Saint Isaac the Syrian, Presbyter of Antioch, on the Contempt of the World

^A 1.3 CHAPTER ONE. *On corporal operation and self-abjection.* The soul that loves God clings to God alone. Anticipate loosening every external tie from yourself, and then cling to God with your heart: for the loosening from worldly things precedes clinging to God. Bread is given to an infant after weaning: and the man who wishes to be delighted in divine things must first alienate himself from the world, just as an infant from its mother's breasts. Corporal operation precedes the operation of the soul, just as in Adam the clay preceded the inspired soul. He who has not acquired corporal action cannot have the operation of the soul, because the latter is born from the former, just as the ear of grain from the naked seed: and to those who do not have the operation of the soul, spiritual gifts are lacking. The labors of this world, which are done for vanity, are not compared to the riches that are prepared for those who afflict ^B themselves with good things. Just as those who sow in tears follow the sheaves of exultation, so joy follows the affliction which is for the sake of God. Bread which is acquired by sweat seems sweet to the farmer, and so do the operations which are done for the sake of justice to the heart; because they give to the heart the knowledge of God. Sustain abjection and humility with a good will, and have security before God. A man who sustains every harsh word, knowing that without any evil it is that which has proceeded from him against the one speaking, places a crown of thorns upon his own head; but he is blessed, because at a time when he is ignorant, he will be incorruptibly crowned. He who knowingly flees from glory, here in his soul already anticipates the future age. He who says he has left the world and litigates with men for the use of some thing, and does not look to his own peace, threatens it: this man is altogether blind, because while he has indeed voluntarily abandoned the body entirely; yet for the sake of one member

^A he is bound and impoverished, so that your soul may be gathered together. You shall hold affability in hatred (3), so that you may preserve your thoughts without disturbance. Withdraw yourself from the multitude, and take care of your soul, so that you may save it from the dispersion of internal tranquility. Cherish chastity, so that you may not be confused at the time of your prayer; and in the memory of death, let joy be enkindled in your heart. So that you may not fall from great things, beware of small things. Do not be slow in your work, so that you may not be confused when you stand in the midst of your friends, and be found without provisions, and they leave you alone in the middle of the way. Intelligibly confess your works, ^B so that you may not be abandoned during your entire journey. Acquire liberty in your conversation, so that you may be freed from the storm. Do not bind your liberty in the pleasure of the flesh, lest you become a slave of slaves. In your clothing, love cheap garments, so that you may cast aside the thoughts arising in you—namely, of pride; for he who loves splendid things cannot have humble thoughts, because the heart is confirmed by outward trappings. Who, loving scurrilous speech, can have a clean mind? Who feigns himself, that he may be glorified by men, and can attain humble thoughts? Or who, being luxurious and dissolute in his limbs, can become clean in mind and humble in heart? When the mind is drawn away by the senses, then it eats with them the food of beasts. But when the senses are drawn back from the mind, then it immediately takes up the food of angels. Abstinence and withdrawal follow humility. Vainglory, however, is the work of pride and a minister of fornication. Humility, because of its continuous retraction, meets with contemplation and adorns the soul in chastity. Vainglory, because of the continual disturbance and fermentation of its thoughts, which occur ^C from the encounter of things, contains empty treasures and defiles them. The heart itself, however, looks upon the nature of things with a luxurious gaze, and makes the mind ponder over base imaginations. Humility also is drawn back spiritually through contemplation, and urges its possessor to contemplate God.

A certain one of the saints said that the merciful man, unless he becomes just, is blind, in order that he may give to others from what he has acquired by his own labors, not from what was acquired by machinations and lies, perjuries and falsehoods. If you wish to sow among the poor, sow from your own property. For if you sow from the property of others, it will be more bitter than tares. But I say that unless a man becomes merciful above justice, he is not merciful: that is, that he not only pities men from his own, but also bears with joy an injury from them, and even pities them. When, however, he has overcome justice through almsgiving, he is crowned not with the crowns that are ^D in the law of the just, but with the crowns that are in the Gospel of the perfect. For that someone should give to the poor, and clothe the naked, and love his neighbor as himself, and neither do injustice nor lie; these things are also contained in the Old Testament. But the perfection of the evangelical dispensation commands thus: *From him who takes away what is yours, do not demand it back, and give to everyone who asks of you* (Matt. v, 42). And it is fitting to bear with joy not only injuries of things and other external events, but truly, in the highest sense, to lay down one's soul for a brother: for this is the merciful man, and not he who only pities his brethren for a gift. And whoever has heard or seen anything vexing his brother, and has been inwardly burned (2) in heart, this man is truly merciful. Similarly, he who, having been struck by his brother, has not been moved to say anything that might vex his heart, is merciful.

CHAPTER II.

On the preciousness of the vigil.

Do not compare those who perform signs and wonders and vir- ^D tues in the world with those who are in solitude wisely.

CHAPTER III.

On solitude.

discordant people. It is better for you to be brief in speech, though you are learned and skilled, than to pour forth doctrine with subtlety of mind, as if from a torrent. It is more profitable for you to be solicitous to raise up what has collapsed in your soul through vices, by the movement of your thoughts upon divine things, than to raise the dead. Many have performed miracles and raised the dead, and afterwards those who vivified others fell into abominable and horrible sins, and became a scandal to others; because while they labored with the infirmity of the soul, they did not care for their own health, but exposed themselves to the sea of this age to heal the souls of others, while they themselves were sick. For the infirmity of their own sensations could not stand against the flame of things that have difficulty through the custom of vices. They still needed to guard themselves, lest they see women, or possess money, or preside over others, nor be lifted up against anyone. It is better for you to be thought ignorant by men because of the brevity of your knowledge for disputation, than to be one of the arrogant wise men. ^B

CHAPTER IV. On the manner of reproving sinners.

Reprove those who contradict you in faith by the power of your virtues, not by the suggestibility of words. Also, restrain the presumptions of the inflexible through the meekness and tranquility of your words. Reprove the luxurious mobilities of your own conduct, and bring your impious sense to order through the restraint of your eyes. ^C Feel yourself a stranger all the days of your life, wherever you may go, so that you may be rescued from the damage that comes from security. At all times, consider yourself to know nothing, so that you may escape the guilt which the suspicion of one wishing to stand against another's judgment brings. Persevere always in blessing with your mouth, and never curse. For a blessing makes a blessing, and a curse makes a curse. In every matter, consider yourself in need of instruction, and you will be found wise all the days of your life. Do not hand anything over to anyone, which you have not yet comprehended. Do not be ashamed if, in that very thing and from the comparison of your own conduct to it, the falsity of your tradition is revealed. If you speak anything of the sort, do not show yourself to anyone as being more sufficient in it; so that you may show to your hearers the order of humility, and induce them to listen to your words and to hasten to action, and become venerable in the eyes of the same. ^D Speak of such matters with tears, that they may be profitable to you and to your hearers, and the grace of God will be with you.

CHAPTER V. How the spirit of blasphemy is to be met.

If you have arrived at the grace of God and in the contemplation of the visible creatures of God—which is the first order of blasphemy—prepare yourself and your weapons. Do not stand in this region without arms, lest you be killed all the more quickly by those who lie in wait and deceive. Let tears and frequent fasting be your weapons for you. Beware lest you read the doctrines of heretics: for this is what arms the spirit of blasphemy against you more. When you have filled your belly, let it not be burdensome to you to scrutinize something regarding divine matters, lest you be moved. For in a filled belly, the knowledge of the secret things of God does not exist: understand what I say to you. Read continuously and insatiably in the books of the doctors concerning the providence of God; because they direct the mind to look upon the order of the creatures of God and his works, and they strengthen it from these things, and make it fit for acquiring an intellect illuminated by their clarity, and they cause it to walk with purity in the consideration of the creatures of God. Read in the Gospels, that you may acquire a viaticum from those things ordered by God for the knowledge of heavenly things in the whole world, through the power of his providence. Perform individual pilgrimages, so that your mind may be deepened in the miracles of God, and that for this reason it may be adapted to your labor. Do not let the discourses of the skilled, that is, of the falsifiers and those who sell divine eloquence, be with you; that you may not remain in darkness until the end of your life, and suffer a defect of their incommodity, and thus fermented, be terrified in the time of your battle, and fall into the pit on the occasion of perceiving gain from them. Let your reading be done in all-encompassing tranquility, and be free from much bodily solicitude and the disturbance of things, that you might taste a delightful tasting in your soul through sweet consideration which surpasses all sense, and your soul will feel it by persevering in it. Let this be a sign for you in the things which you have wished to undergo, lest you depart from that region.

CHAPTER VI. On the contemplation of things.

When grace begins to open your eyes to perceive the contemplation of things in truth, then immediately your eyes will begin to pour forth tears like a river, so that often your cheeks may be washed by their abundance. And then the battle of the senses ceases, and it is drawn within. If any of the just have taught the contrary, do not believe him: for except for tears, seek no other sign from the body. For as soon as the mind is lifted to creatures, then the body recedes both from tears and from sensuality: When you have found honey, do not vomit from being filled with it; eat of it moderately. For the nature of the soul thins things and becomes light. For sometimes, while singing psalms, it desires to ascend above its own nature; often, however, from the reading of the Scriptures and the contemplation of things, it comprehends something: but when it is compared to those things which have been comprehended, it is found more insufficient and timid by that...

^A measure determined by its own disposition, in comparison to those things into which its knowledge has entered. Thus, it induces fear and trembling in its thoughts, and hastens to return to its own lowest state because of its dread, inasmuch as it was moved and presumed to scrutinize those things which are above, that is, divine things. For because of this timidity, a certain fear of things happens to it, and discretion aids the intellect of the soul so that it may be free for silence and not be moved, lest it perish, nor seek those things which are higher than itself. But when the power of considering has been given to you, do not move against the mysteries, but adore, glorify, and be grateful in silence. For just as it is not expedient to eat much honey, so neither is it to scrutinize divine utterances; lest, to those wishing to gaze at deeper things, but not yet being able to do so because of the harshness of the way, the power of vision be weakened and it be offended. For sometimes, in the place of truth, certain phantasms are seen; and when the mind is occupied with active inquiry, it forgets its own intention. Well, therefore, does the wise Solomon say that a man without wisdom is like a city without a wall. Cleanse, therefore, O man, your soul, and shake off from yourself the care of things which are outside your nature, and grasp the veils of humility and chastity against your intellect and your motions. And through this, you will find that which is within you; for ^B to the humble, mysteries are revealed.

Chapter VII. On the proper institution of prayer and reading.

If you wish to give your soul to the operation of prayer which cleanses the mind, and to perseverance in the vigils of the night, remove yourself from the sight of the world, cut off conversation, and do not receive friends in your cell out of habit, nor even under the guise of goodness, except for those who are of the same custom, judgment, and society as you. And fear the fermentation of the soul’s speech, which is accustomed to be moved against one’s will. And after you have cut off and resolved external speech, join mercy to your prayer; and your soul will see the light of truth. For the more the heart remains in tranquility from extrinsic things, the more the mind is able to receive comprehension, which has its existence from the consideration of the intellect. For it is the habit of the soul to change conversation quickly; if, ^C however, we have labored to apply a little diligence, study the readings of the Scriptures which demonstrate the way of subtlety, contemplation, and the life of the saints; although at the beginning you may not feel sweetness, because of the darkening proximities of things, so that you may change conversation for conversation. And when you have risen to prayer and the rule, in place of the meditation of worldly things which you have seen and heard, you will find in the meditation of the Scriptures which you have read, and [because] you will forget those worldly things, and thus the mind approaches towards purity. And this is that which is written, that the soul is ^D aided by reading, when it stands in prayer, and is illuminated in reading, and in the same place, with the dregs of fermentation wiped away, it is found entirely in the form of prayer. It is shameful for lovers of the flesh and gluttons to scrutinize spiritual things. A body that is gravely sick hates and repels harsh foods: and a mind intent on worldly things cannot approach the scrutinies of divine matters. Fire is not ignited in wet wood, and divine heat is not born in the heart of one who loves quiet and idleness. The friendship of a harlot does not remain with one man: and the soul which is entangled in many things does not remain in divine documents. Just as he who has not seen the sun with his own eyes cannot narrate its light to anyone from hearing alone, nor does he feel it; so also does he whose soul has not tasted the sweetness of celestial things.

Chapter VIII. On almsgiving.

If you have anything beyond your daily necessity, distribute it to the poor, and you will be with security. Offer your prayers—that is, speak with God as a son with his father. Nothing makes one approach God so much as almsgiving. Nothing brings such tranquility to the mind as poverty which is voluntarily sustained. It is better for you to be called an idiot by many than, for the sake of glory, to be thought wise and perfect. If anyone, ascending a horse, extends his hand to you to receive alms, do not repel him, because at that time he will be as one of the poor in need. But when you give, give with magnanimity, and offer with a cheerfulness of countenance more than what he asked. Send forth, indeed, Lord, bread then before the face of the poor, and after a long time you will see the retribution. Do not distinguish the poor from the rich, nor seek to know the worthy from the unworthy. But let all men be equal to you in regard to the good. In this way, you will be able to draw the unworthy to the good, because the soul is quickly drawn through temporal things to the fear of God. For the Lord also communicated with publicans and sinners at meals, nor did he separate the unworthy, so that in this way he might draw everyone to the fear of God and they might approach spiritual things through corporal ones. On account of this, make all men equal in goodness and honor, even if he be a Jew or a pagan; and especially because he is your brother, and has deviated from your nature and from the truth without knowledge. When you do good to another, do not expect retribution from him, and according to both things, it will be rendered to you by God. And if it should be possible for you, do not even do good because of the future retribution, but do it simply for the love of God. 6

CHAPTER IX. De paupertate.

If you have set a limit of poverty for your soul, and through the grace of God have been liberated from anxieties, and in your poverty have been made above the world;

^A beware lest, because of your love for the poor, you seek gain in the things that are spoken of, and seek something else for yourself in place of the alms that should be given, and place your soul in turmoil so that you may receive from another to be generous to others, and think your honor [is found] in the subjection of asking on behalf of others, and fall away from the freedom and nobility of your intention into the anxieties of worldly things—for your rank is higher than the rank of those who show mercy. I implore you, do not subject yourself to alms, which are like nourishment for children. But solitude is the head of perfection. If you have possessions, disperse them at once. But if you do not have them, do not seek to have them. Therefore, cleanse your cell of superfluities and delights. For this leads you to abstinence even when you are unwilling and reluctant. The lack of things teaches a person to abstain, for when we receive the opportunity for things, we cannot restrain ourselves. Those who have overcome the exterior battle have received companionship from the interior fear, nor does the battle press upon them opportunely, nor are they shaken in battle from before or behind. I speak, however, of the battle that is stirred up against the soul by the senses and by negligence, such as giving and receiving; hearing and the tongue, which are brought upon the soul, create blindness for it, so that because of the superinduction of exterior turmoil, it cannot attend to itself in the hidden battle that is waged against it, and [cannot] see with that tranquility the things which are stirred up from within. When someone has closed the doors of the city of the senses, he then battles from within, and he does not fear the ensnarers who are outside the city.

Chapter X. On Prayer and Labor.

Attend, therefore, to these things, O man, you who read, for unless you labor, you will not find, and unless you knock with fervor and keep watch at the door continuously, you will not be heard. Who, hearing this, will desire exterior righteousness? That man, surely, who cannot be instructed in solitude. Nevertheless, if someone is not able to be free from worldly cares, because of the grace of God, to be a man within the door, he should not abandon the path, lest he make himself destitute of both lives. Until the ^B exterior man dies to the things of the world—not only from sin, but from every bodily action—in the same way the interior man [dies] to evil thoughts, and the natural bodily motion is weakened so that it might not stir up the sweetness of sins in the heart; the sweetness of the Holy Spirit will not be stirred up in a man, and his members will not be purified in his life, and the intellect of his soul, regarding divine things, will not appear. And until he destroys in his heart the anxiety for worldly things, beyond the necessary use of nature, and commits to God the care for them, the spiritual intoxication will not be stirred up in him, and he will not feel that consolation of which the Apostle was comforted when he said: *Our conversation is in heaven* [Phil. iii, 20]. And again: *I live, now not I, but Christ lives in me* [Gal. ii, 20]. I said this, however, not to cut off hope; thus, indeed, that unless one attains to the summit of perfection, he does not deserve the grace of God, or find the consolation that occurs to him. In truth, when someone has made public what he has committed and has ^D completely distanced himself from them, and has approached the good things constantly, in a little time he will feel help; and if he overcomes a little more, he will find the consolation of his soul, and consequently, remission, and will receive an abundance of goods, and will become worthy of grace. Nevertheless, he who has separated himself from the world is lesser in comparison with the perfection of him who has found in his soul the secret of blessedness, and has apprehended that thing for which Christ came. To whom be grace forever and ever. Amen. ^C Blessed is he who knows this and remains in solitude, and does not fluctuate in a multitude of works, but turns all bodily operations into the labor of prayer, and believes as long as he works with God, and has anxiety in himself day and night, that nothing will be lacking to him in necessary uses, just as he does not cease from work for the same reason. But if someone does not endure in solitude, or works, using it indeed as an aid, not however greedily for the sake of gain—for that is provided for the infirm, because for the stronger it exists as a distraction; the fathers exposed it for the poor and the lazy, so that they might work, but not as a necessary thing. In the time when God pricks the heart, give yourself to continuous extensions of the body on the earth and genuflections. And when the demons begin to suggest that you be free in your lips, and your heart be anxious about something, do not give up: and then see and wonder what greater thing ought to arise from this. Nothing else is greater than to stretch one’s sense before the cross of Christ day and night, and to bind one’s hands behind one's back, that is, to desist from manual work. Do you wish that the warmth should not grow cold for you, and that you should not be impoverished of tears? In these things, exercise yourself. And blessed are you, O man, if you study day and night with them; for then light will rise for you within, and your righteousness will quickly shine, and it will become like an unfailing fountain of water and like a flourishing paradise. You see what kinds of goods arise for a man from the struggle: often he is found bent upon his knees in prayers, having his hands extended to heaven, and looking at the face on the cross of Christ, and gathering all his thoughts into God in prayer. And as long as he is with tears and compunction, in that very hour, a fountain suddenly flows in his heart producing delight, and his limbs are dissolved, and his eyes are covered, and he turns his face to the earth: his thoughts are altered in such a way that he cannot make a genuflection because of the joy that will be in his whole body.

CHAPTER XI. On the Honor Given by God.

God has granted much honor to men, a twofold doctrine by which He opened to them the door to enter into supernal knowledge. Do you wish for a faithful witness regarding the things aforementioned? Make yourself [the witness] within your own self: you will not perish. And if you wish to know this from outside, you have another teacher and witness, who directs you to the way of truth. A mind fermented by oblivion cannot avoid it, and wisdom does not open her door to such [people]. Whoever can understand by diligent knowledge the equality of the end toward which all things are finished, and the abbreviation of temporal things, has no need of another teacher. The natural law which was first given to man by God is the contemplation of His creatures. ^A But after the prevarication, the literal [law] was added. Whoever does not voluntarily distance himself from the causes of vices is dragged unwillingly into sin. These are the causes of sinning: wine, women, a prosperous condition of the body, and riches. By nature these are not sin; but through these one is turned toward the passions of sin: hence one must studiously beware of them.

CHAPTER XII. On Avoiding the Occasions of Vices.

By him, he acquires him as a protector; and whoever considers His will will have the celestial angels as guides. Whoever fears sins will pass through the fearful journey without hurt, and will find light before him in a dark time. The Lord guards the steps of him who fears sins, and in the time of ruin the mercy of God will go before him. Whoever considers his own transgressions to be small will fall into things worse than the former, and in himself alone will he find vengeance. Sow alms in humility, and in mercy you shall reap judgment. In those things in which you have lost the good, acquire it again in them for yourself: do not give God a penny which He did not receive from you, for yourself. You have lost the pearl, namely, chastity; God did not receive alms from you. He wants the chastity of your body from you, from the time you prevaricated: consider the commandment to have renounced the acquisition of the world; struggle for others. You have abandoned the root, and have come to attack others. Blessed Ephrem said that no one fights against the heat in the time of harvest dressed in winter clothes: here, whatever each one sows, that he will also reap; and every infirmity is healed by its own medicines. And you, perhaps agitated by envy, why do you hasten to fight against sleep? As long as you have a small transgression and it begins to blossom, cut it out before it is amplified and bears fruit. Do not be negligent when a transgression seems small to you; for you will see it first as an inhuman master, and bound before it, you will fall like a slave: but he who fights against it from the beginning will soon dominate it. ^B If you are always mindful of your fragility, you will not exceed the limit of custody. Among men, poverty is abominable; but before God, the soul is exalted in heart. Among men, riches are precious; but before God, the humbled soul is. When you wish to make a beginning of a good work, prepare yourself beforehand against the temptations that are coming to you, so that you may not hesitate toward the truth. For it is the habit of the enemy, when he sees someone adopting a good conversation with fervent faith and a pure conscience, to meet him with various and diverse temptations, so that coming into fear from then, he may wither from the good purpose, so that he may not have any warmth at all for approaching God: not that the adversary has such power (for no one could touch the good) but it is permitted by God, as we have been taught in blessed Job. But you, prepare yourself manfully to withstand the temptations which are induced by virtues, and then begin to practice the virtues. For unless you have prepared yourself first, you will recede from the performance of virtues. ^C A man doubting that God is the helper of a good work is terrified by his own shadow, and in the time of happiness and abundance, he labors with hunger, and in spiritual tranquility he is filled with a tempest. But he who trusts in God is comforted in heart, and his preciousness will appear before all, and in the sight of his enemies. The commandments of God are above all the treasures of the world, and he who has acquired them finds within himself God, who is always solicitous for him when he lies down.

CHAPTER XIII. On the Perfection of Patience.

Whoever can sustain injustice with joy, having indeed at hand [the means] by which he might resist, this person receives consolation divinely through the charity which he bears toward Him. He who with humility sustains the accusations brought against him, this person comes to perfection and is admired by the holy angels. For no virtue exists so great and difficult to obtain. Do not believe yourself to be strong until you have been examined and find yourself unaltered: thus in all things, prove yourself. Do not have an exalted mind, nor trust in your own virtue, lest you be permitted to be in the fragility of nature, and then learn your fragility from your own nature. Do not believe in your own judgment, lest the enemy ensnare you in his bond. ^D Acquire correct faith within yourself, so that you may be able to trample upon your enemies: have a gentle tongue and absolutely no disgrace will occur to you. Acquire for yourself sweet lips, and you will have all as friends. Never glory in your good works, lest you be confounded in your tongue. Whatever thing in which a man glories, God permits to be altered so that the man might be humbled: and Divine Providence permits all things. Never indicate the strength of passions and vicious habits.

^A Believe that there is anything unchangeable for you in this life; rather, let such an attitude always lift your eyes up to God.

God’s protection and providence exist toward all men, but it is not seen except by those who have purged themselves of sin and who have their meditation from God. Specifically, however, God’s providence is manifested to those who fall into great temptation for God’s sake: then they feel it, and it appears almost to the eyes of the body, whereby they see it in proportion to the magnitude and intensity of the temptation occurring, so that he may join the combatants unto the very extremity, just as in the case of Job, Joshua, Peter, and the like, to whom He appeared in human form, strengthening and confirming them in faith. If, indeed, this was granted to the saints by way of dispensation, when they had specifically merited such visions, let the martyrs of Christ be for you an example of fortitude in temptations—men of whom many, over and over, or individually one by one, and one man in many places, contended in Christ and, by the hidden power that was in them, manfully endured in their clay bodies, in the field, by the sword, and by every kind of torture—a thing indeed beyond nature. For to such as these the holy angels appeared visibly, so that anyone might learn that divine providence abounds toward those who endure every temptation and every tribulation for His sake, as an aid to their fortitude. For the more the saints were strengthened by visions, the more the adversaries raged because of their patience.

What need is there to speak of the wandering monks and anchorites, who inhabited the desert and made it a habitable dwelling-place for angels, to whom the holy angels often drew near because of the sweetness of their conversation, and so that, standing under the protection of the one Lord, they might gather together from time to time, because all the days of their lives they embraced the eremitic life, living in the mountains, pits, and caverns of the earth for the sake of divine love? Wherefore, just as they abandoned earthly things and loved heavenly things, and became imitators of the angels: so by right did the angels not hide their own will from them, but appeared to them for a time, teaching them how they ought to conduct themselves; and sometimes they explained certain ambiguous matters to them, and sometimes they guided the saints who were wandering off the path. ^B Sometimes, indeed, they freed them when they fell into temptations; and sometimes they snatched them from the sudden collapse of stones or the blow of rocks, when the enemy was manifesting an attack against the saints, and they showed themselves to them visibly and said they were sent for their counsel or aid, and they brought them comfort and refreshment and boldness, and sometimes they performed healings through them. At other times they cured the saints themselves when they fell into afflictions. At other times, when their bodies were failing from hunger, they strengthened them with the touch of a hand or with natural words, and imparted fortitude; at other times, why do we recount so many things, by expressing the charity which the angels bear toward us, and the care which they have indeed borne and do bear for the just, by the grace of God? For as elder brothers do toward younger brothers, so they provide for us.

But these things have been said so that everyone may know that *the Lord is near to all who call upon him in truth* (Ps. CXLIV, 18), and what great providence He exercises toward those who have surrendered themselves to His good pleasure and follow Him with their whole heart. If you believe that God provides for you, why are you anxious and worried about temporal and necessary things of the flesh? But if you do not believe that God provides for you, and for this reason are anxious about your necessities without Him, you are the most miserable of all men. Why, then, do you live? *Cast your concern upon the Lord* (Ps. LIV, 23), and you will not fear from any impending terror. He who has once offered himself to God dwells in the peace of the mind. Unless someone has become free of self, his soul cannot be liberated from the turbulence of thoughts, and without tranquility of the senses, he will not feel peace of mind. And unless he has entered into temptation, he will not acquire the wisdom of the Spirit; and without laborious reading, he will not feel the subtlety of thoughts. Without tranquility of the thoughts, the mind will not be moved in hidden mysteries; and without the confidence that comes through faith, ^C the soul cannot take up boldness against temptations with security. And without experience of the protection of God, the heart cannot hope in Him. And unless the soul knowingly tastes the sufferings of Christ, it will not have communion with Him. Consider him a man of God who, for the sake of great piety, has mortified himself for a necessary utility. For he who has mercy on the poor has God thinking on his behalf. And he who is poor for His sake has already found inexhaustible treasures. God is in need of nothing, but He rejoices when He sees some image of Himself—that is, a man—embracing and honoring that image for His sake. When someone has asked of you something that you have, do not say in your heart: "I shall keep this for my own soul, so that I may find rest in it," and God has the wherewithal to provide the necessary things for him from elsewhere. These are the certainties of the iniquitous and of those who are ignorant of God. For a just and good man does not give his own honor to another, nor does he allow the time of grace to slip by in vain: for the poor indeed and the needy man is provided for by God, because the Lord abandons no one. You, however, have abandoned your honor provided for you by God; and by repelling the poor man, you have distanced His grace from you: but when you have given, rejoice and say: "Glory to You, O God, who have made me worthy that I might find someone to please." But if you do not have what to give, rejoice all the more, and say, referring thanks to God: "I give thanks to You, my God, who have given me this honor, that I might be poor for Your name, and have made me worthy to taste the tribulation placed on the path of Your commandments in bodily infirmity and poverty,

^A just as the saints who walked along this path have tasted.

When you are infirm, say: "It is more blessed for those who have fallen away from the Lord to be tempted in those things in which we possess life by inheritance; for the infirmities of the body are present for the health of the soul." One of the saints said, and I noted it, that a monk who does not serve God according to His good pleasure, and does not labor diligently for the salvation of his soul, but holds himself negligently toward the acquisition of virtues, is permitted by the Lord to fall into temptations, lest by his excessive idleness he decline toward worse things. For this reason God casts temptations upon the slothful and negligent, so that they may meditate upon them and not upon vanities. God does this to those who love Him, that He may chastise and make them wise, and teach them His own will; for when they pray to Him, He does not quickly answer them ^B until they have confessed and know for certain that this happens to them because of their negligence. For it is written: "When you stretch out your hands to me, I will turn My eyes away from you. Even if you multiply prayers, I will not hear." Though this was said for another, it is nevertheless written for these, because they forsook the way of the Lord. From this we say that God is most merciful, because we are not heard while we are requesting and knocking during prayer; but we are taught these things by the prophet who says: "Neither is the hand of the Lord short, that it cannot save, nor is His ear heavy, that it cannot hear; but our sins have separated us from Him, and our iniquities have caused Him to turn His face away." Be mindful of God at all times; and when you fall into evils, He Himself will be mindful of you. Your nature has been made receptive to vices: even the temptations of the present age are many, and the evils are not far from you, but rise up within you and beneath you and at your feet. Do not depart from the place in which you remain, and when God concedes it to you, you will be freed from them. Just as your eyebrows are near to you, so are temptations near to men.

Moreover, the wisdom of God has disposed this for your benefit, that you might diligently knock at His door: and by the fear of those who afflict you, His memory might be brought into your mind, and you might draw near to Him through intercessions, and your heart might be sanctified through continuous remembrance, and He might hear you as you pray, and you might learn that it is God who frees you; and you will perceive your Creator who made for you a twofold world: one as a teacher and temporal chastiser, the other as your paternal home and eternal inheritance; ^C one in the present, the other in the future. God did not make you unreachable by sorrows, lest, aspiring to divinity, you should inherit what Lucifer inherited before, who through pride was afterwards made Satan. Likewise, He did not make you unbending or immovable, lest you should become like inanimate things: and they would become for you goods ^D without gain or reward, as are the natural effects of irrational things. How much usefulness and thanksgiving and humility arise from the heavenly instigation of goads, all can easily know: it is manifest that it is for us to study in good things and to decline from evil; and the honor and disgrace that have their origin in these things redound to us: through the shame of disgrace we are stretched toward virtues. For this reason, God permits you to be in afflictions, lest at some time you decline, provoking Him, and by the superaddition of punishment destroy yourself from His face.

I pass over the impiety of doctrine and the other blasphemies that are born through prosperity and security. For who would not take such doctrines for granted? God has multiplied these masters for you, lest, if you were free from them and not receptive to things that cause distress, and existing above fear, you should forget the Lord your God, and decline from Him, and fall back into the worship of many gods, just as many who, being of like condition to you, and not lashed by the same distresses, in one moment of time for a short power, not only fell into the worship of many gods, but also vainly presumed to call themselves gods. For this reason, therefore, through passions and distressing things, God has multiplied the memory of Himself in your heart, and by the fear of adversities has stirred you to knock at the door of His mercy, and for your liberation from them and by the occasion of them He has inserted His charity into you. Moreover, in inserting charity, He has drawn near to you by the honor of adoption, and has shown you the abundance of His grace, how great it was. Whence, O man, would you know such a dispensation and His care, unless contrary things had befallen you? For from these it is impossible that doctrine should be multiplied in your soul through greater charity, namely from the remembrance of His gifts and from the remembrance of the multitude of His providence. All these good things arise for you from afflictions, so that you may learn to give thanks.

Be mindful of God, so that saving you, He Himself may be mindful of you and lavish every blessing. Do not forget Him while puffed up in vanities, lest He also forget you at the time of your struggle. In your abundance be obedient to Him, so that in tribulations you may have heartfelt and assiduous prayer with confidence before Him. Cleanse yourself before God, always having His memory in your heart, so that, by not delaying outside His memory, you may not become insecure when you approach Him; because security before God comes from His fervent conversation and much prayer. The affection and frequentation that happens toward men is rendered through the body; and the affection toward God, is rendered through the memory of the soul and supplication, and prayer, and holocaust. From the great assiduity of His own remembrance, when to

^A a state of astonishment and admiration is transferred, the heart of those who seek the Lord rejoices. O condemnable ones, be strengthened in hope, seek His face through penance; and you shall be sanctified by the sanctification of His countenance, and you shall be cleansed from your sins. Run to God, O you who are guilty of sins, because He is powerful to remit sins, and is able to blot out offenses. With an oath He says through the prophet, saying: I live, says the Lord, I desire not the death of the sinner, but that he be converted and live. And again: All the day long I have spread forth my hands to a people disbelieving and rebellious. And now why will you die, O house of Israel? Be converted to me, and I will be converted to you. And again Ezekiel: On whatever day the sinner shall be converted from his wicked way to the Lord, and shall have exercised judgment and justice; I will not remember his iniquities; he shall surely live, says the just Lord. And if he shall have abandoned his justice, and shall have committed the iniquity of sin, I will not remember his justice, but I will put a stumbling block before him, and he shall die in the darkness of his works, persisting in them. For which cause the sinner shall not be bound by his sin, whenever he shall be converted to the Lord; and the justice of the just man shall not deliver him, on whatever day he shall have sinned, provided he hath remained in sin. And to Jeremiah also God thus says: Take thee a scroll, and whatsoever I shall have said to thee, I will bring upon this people; that the man hearing and fearing may abandon his bad way: but let them be converted and repent, and their sins shall be taken away. And Wisdom hath said: He who hideth his sin shall be useless; but he who confesseth his sins and proceedeth beyond them, shall obtain mercy from God. And Isaiah saith: Seek ye the Lord: those finding [Him], call upon Him, and you who draw near: let the sinner abandon his own way, and the unjust man his thoughts; and be converted to me, and I will have mercy on you. When you shall have kept the ways of the Lord, and shall have done His will, then hope in Him, and: While you are yet calling, He shall say to you: Behold, I am here. But when temptation supervenes, the unjust man hath no confidence of calling upon God, nor of hoping for his own salvation, because in the days of his tranquility he was far removed from His will. Before you begin to fight, seek out your assailants; and before you are weakened, require a physician; and before tribulations happen to you, pray; and in the time of sadness you shall find Him, and He will hear you. Before your labors, call and supplicate; and before you send forth a vow, prepare the promised provisions, namely, from this world. The Ark of Noah was built in a time of peace: a hundred years before, its timbers were prepared; but in the time of wrath the unjust perished, and for the just man protection was provided. The wicked mouth is blocked by prayer: for the reproof of conscience makes a man fearful.

^B A good heart pours out tears with joy in prayer: for those to whom the world is dead, they endure adversities rejoicing. It pertains to masters and the powerful to endure the labors of the world among their own, and to those to whom this world is dead, and all consolation is despaired of. And to those to whom it is not dead, they are unable to endure injuries, but being moved by vainglory are troubled by anger, or also are preoccupied by sadness. O how difficult it is that this virtue be acquired, and how great a glory he obtains before God, who wishes to acquire this virtue, namely, to endure injuries! He needs to distance himself from his own and to dwell abroad, because he cannot acquire it in his own country: just as the humbled approach grace, so do those who are saddened by the events [thereof] approach pride. The eyes of the Lord are upon the humble to gladden them; but the countenance of the Lord is against the proud to humble them.

Humility has always received mercy from God. But through hardness of heart and the biting of faith, terrible encounters occur. Little esteem yourself in all things before all men, and you shall be exalted above the princes of this world: anticipate all inclinations to your salutation, and you shall be honored above those who offer gifts of gold from Ophir: little esteem yourself, and you shall see the glory of God in yourself. For wherever humility is born, there the glory of God arises. If you have labored to be manifestly despised by all, God will cause you to be glorified. But if you have humility in your heart, God will show you glory in your heart. Be content in your greatness, and not great in your littleness: study to be despised, and you shall be filled with divine honor. Do not seek to be honored when you are inwardly filled with allurements: despise honor, that you may be honored: do not love it, that you may not incur disgrace. He who runs after honor, shall flee from him; and he who flees it, shall be followed by it, and from his humility he shall become a preacher to all men. If you despise yourself, God will make you known: but if you have despised yourself for the sake of truth, God will command all creatures to praise you. He will open before your countenance the door of the glory of your creation, and will commend you: because according to His image and likeness, yet to men appearing contemptible, and shining in life, and also eminent in knowledge, but humble in spirit, who has seen [such a one]? Blessed is he who humbles himself in all things, since he shall be exalted. For he who for God's sake humbles and little esteems himself, is glorified by God: and he who for God's sake hungers and thirsts, God shall inebriate him with His own goods: and he who for His sake becomes naked, the stole of incorruption and glory

will be given him by Him: and he who for His sake is made poor, will be comforted by His wondrous riches. Despise yourself for God's sake, and glory shall be multiplied unto you, while you are utterly ignorant of it yourself. In your life, consider yourself a sinner, so that you may always be justified. Become a fool in your own wisdom; and do not make yourself appear wise, while being a fool; and fear pride, and you shall be magnified. Flee vainglory, and you shall be glorified. For vainglory is not distributed to the sons of men, nor is exaltation to the nation of women. ^A

If you have voluntarily renounced all things of the world, do not wish in any way to litigate with anyone. If you abhor vainglory, flee those who hunt for it. Flee both the lovers of things and the acquisition of them. Distance yourself from the prodigal, just as from prodigality; flee the lustful, just as from lust. For since the mere memory of sins disturbs the mind, how much more so their sight and conversation? Approach the just, and through them you shall approach God. Converse with those who have humility, and learn their ways; for if the sight of them is useful, how much more so is the doctrine of their mouths? Love the poor, because through them you will obtain mercy. Do not approach the litigious, lest you expel tranquility. ^B Do not bear the sorrows of the infirm abominably, because you too are clothed in flesh just as they are. Do not exacerbate those who are distressed in heart, lest you be lashed by their rod, and you seek, and do not find, comforters. Do not mock those who are mutilated in limb, since we all go equally to death. Love sinners; but let their works be insidious to you, so that you are not contaminated in those things in which they themselves are. Remember that you have communion with earthly substance, and do good to all, and do not exacerbate the needy, and do not deprive them of your prayers and sweet words and consolations, lest they perish, and their souls be required of you. But imitate physicians, who assuage hotter passions with cooler and contrary medicines. Excite yourself when you meet your neighbor, so that you may honor him beyond measure: kiss even his feet and hands, and hold them many times with great honor, and place them upon your eyes, and commend him even in that which he does not have. But when you have departed from him, speak of him ^C of every good and whatever is precious. By these and suchlike things, draw him toward the good, and so you shall sow the seed of virtue in him. Moreover, from such a custom a good form is formed in you; you shall acquire much humility in yourself; and you shall obtain great things without labor. Nay, more: if he even has some defects, he, honored by you, will receive health, blushing from the honor you have shown him. This mode of salutation and honor becomes yours always among all: do not exacerbate anyone, nor disturb, nor envy another; but guard yourself, and do not argue with anyone in anything, or judge, or reproach: for we have in heaven a Judge who does not accept persons. But if you wish to convert him to the truth, be saddened for his sake, and with tears speak to him one word or two, and be not inflamed with fury against him, lest he see in you a sign of enmity. For charity knows not how to rage, or to exacerbate, or to abhor anyone viciously. The sign of charity and knowledge is humility, which is born from a good conscience in Christ Jesus our Lord: to whom is glory and power with the Father and the Holy Spirit, both now and for ever and ever. Amen. ^D

CHAPTER XIV. Appropinquare Deo quomodo debeamus, etc.

When someone falls into some ruin of sin, it is a sign of natural coldness, because God conveniently permitted human nature to be receptive of vices: for He did not provide to establish it above them before the future regeneration. However, that it is receptive of vices is useful for the prickings of conscience: but perseverance in the same is imprudent and base. There are three ways by which every rational soul can approach God: either by the fervor of God, or by fear, or by the discipline of the Lord. For no one can approach the charity of God unless one of these three ways has preceded: for just as from the gluttony of the belly is born the disturbance of thoughts; so also from multiloquy and immoderation of speech, ignorance and excess of mind: for the solicitude of temporal things disturbs the soul, and the fermentation which is made from them corrupts the mind and drives it from quietude.

It becomes the religious, who has delivered himself to the celestial operation, to be daily outside all solicitude for temporal things always, so that, having been made within himself, he finds absolutely nothing of this world in himself, for from such a thing the holy one in quiet can irrevocably meditate in the law of the Lord day and night. Corporal labor without merits is cleanness like a sterile womb and dry udders; because it cannot approach the knowledge of God: it makes the body laborious, indeed, but it acquires nothing. Just as he who sows upon thorns can reap nothing; so he who destroys himself with hatred and greed cannot attain anything, but is weakened in his place by many vigils and the occupation of things. And this is testified by the Scripture which says: *As a people working justice, and not neglecting any commandment of the Lord, inquire of me, and will not approach me, saying: Why have we fasted, and you have not seen it, and we have humbled ourselves, and you have not known it? For in the days of your fasts you do your own wills, and as if offering sacrifices to idols, [you do] wicked works*

thinking them to be gods, offering to them hearts that were all more precious than incense, which you ought to have offered to Me through good works and your sincere conscience. Just as clouds cover the light of the moon, so do the vapors of the belly cover the wisdom of God in the soul. As fire is a flame in dry wood, so it is in a belly that is full. Just as rich fuel increases the flame of fire, so does the variety of foods increase the movement of the body. In a luxurious body, the knowledge of God does not dwell. He who loves his body will not acquire the grace of God. Just as fruit is born from the pains of childbirth, gladdening the one who brings it forth, so from labor is born in the soul the knowledge of the mysteries of God. Just as a father takes care of his son, so does God take care of the body that is afflicted for His sake, in accordance with the saying: Most precious is the acquisition of the body that is exercised with wisdom.

CHAPTER XV.

How a man may be a stranger and a monk.

^AA stranger is one who, having become in mind removed from all worldly things, is mourning; who leads his life in hunger and thirst all the days of his life because of the hope of future blessings. The riches of the religious are the consolation that comes from mourning, and the joy that comes from faith: which shine in the chambers of the heart. A monk is one who sits apart from the world and always prays to God, that he may attain future blessings. He is merciful who gives to all, and who makes no distinction in his mind between one person and another. He is a virgin who has not guarded his body from pollution alone; but he is one who, when he is solitary, feels shame within himself. If you love chastity, expel base thoughts through the meditation of reading and attentive prayer; and then you will be armored ^B against the impulses of nature, because without these it is impossible for purity to be found in the soul. If you wish to find grace or to possess mercy, first accustom yourself to hold all things in check, lest your mind be dissolved by their weight and wander outside its own boundaries. For the confirmation of mercy is demonstrated in patience under injuries. The perfection of humility is to endure the lashes of accusation with joy. If you are in truth merciful, when yours are taken from you unjustly, do not be saddened within, nor speak of the exterior loss; but rather let the loss caused by those who injure you be diluted by your mercy, just as the sharpness of wine is diluted by an abundance of water: show to everyone the multitude of your mercy in the good things which you bestow upon your injurers, and as the blessed Elisha did to his enemies who wished to capture him: for when he prayed and blinded them with darkness, he showed the power that was in him; and when he gave them food and drink, and sent them away, he showed the mercy of the Lord.

CHAPTER XVI.

Concerning the perfection of humility.

He who is in truth humble, when suffering an injury is not troubled, nor does he excuse himself regarding the matter in which he has suffered injustice; but he accepts the accusation as a virtue; and he is not anxious to suggest to men that he has been accused, but seeks pardon. For some have voluntarily drawn upon themselves the infamy of luxury, although they were not such; others have endured [the accusation] of adultery, though they were far from it; and they honored themselves by weeping, [taking upon themselves] the penalty of a sin they had not committed; and with tears they sought from those who were injuring them pardon for the iniquity which they had not perpetrated, being crowned with all purity and cleanliness in their soul. Others also, so that they might not be glorified for their virtuous conversation which was hidden within them, showed themselves as madmen, although they were seasoned with divine salt and formed in tranquility, seeing as they had the holy angels as preachers of their deeds. For you think that you possess humility, but you cannot be accused. If, therefore, you wish to know whether you are humble, test yourself in the things mentioned above.

CHAPTER XVII.

Concerning the mansions of eternity.

The Savior calls many mansions of His Father the measures of souls in that region where they dwell, namely the discernments and diversities by which they are delighted in spirit. For He did not signify by the teaching of places, but by the order of charisms, that there would be many mansions: just as every man, according to the sincerity of his virtue, enjoys the sight and grace of the material sun; and just as one lamp in a single room that is illuminated becomes for each person a different light in many splendors through an undivided radiance: so in the future age all the just will dwell undivided in one region; but each one will be illuminated by one intelligible sun, according to his own measure; and for his merits he is worthy of joy and gladness: as if from one air, and place, and chair, and aspect, and form: nor will one envy another who has more or less, nor, upon seeing the superabundant grace of his friend and his own inadequacy, will it become for him a cause of perturbation and sadness—which heaven forbid, where there is neither sadness nor sighing. Rather, each is delighted within according to the grace granted to him, according to his measure. For the vision is one for all on the exterior, ^D and true joy. And there is no high middle order between these two, namely one superior ^C and one inferior. But in the midst of them is the truth of differing retributions. And if that is true, as it is true, what is more foolish and senseless than those who say: "It is sufficient for me to avoid hell; if I do not enter into the kingdom, I do not care." For to avoid hell is nothing other than to enter the kingdom; just as to fall from the kingdom is to enter hell. For Scripture did not teach us of three regions, but that when the Son of man comes in the seat of His majesty, He will set the sheep on the right, but the goats on the left; and He distinguished their boundaries, and tabernacles

^A saying: *These shall go away into everlasting punishment, namely, sinners: but the righteous into life everlasting, who shall shine as the sun*. And again: *They shall come* from the east and west, *and shall sit down with Abraham in the kingdom of heaven: but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth*, which is more horrible than any fire. What therefore have you not understood, that the opposite of the superior order is Gehenna itself, which torments? It is good, therefore, to instruct men for good, and to draw them to dwell under divine dispensation, and to transfer them from error to the acknowledgment of the truth. For this was the order of Christ and the apostles, and it is exceedingly sublime.

^B If, however, a man feels from such abstinence and assiduous communication that his abstinence is weakened in the vision of things, and his tranquility is disturbed, and his knowledge is obscured, because his mind still needs custody and the subjection of the senses; and while he wishes to cure others, he destroys his own health, and departs from the freedom of his own will to the disturbance of his mind: let him remember the apostolic word, that *strong meat is for the perfect*; and he shall return back, lest he hear as it were in the proverb: *Physician, cure thyself*. Let him also condemn himself; let him preserve his own health, and both for his sensible words and for his voices, let him minister and teach by good conversation. And when he feels his soul in health, then let him also profit others, and care for others. For when he is found infirm by men, he will be able to do them good more in the heaven of good works than in words, while he himself is infirm and needs health more than they: *For if the blind lead the blind, both fall into the pit*. For they who have healthy sensualities, and are exercised, who also are able to take every food, namely, the insults of all the senses, nor from all things that occur to them incur an injury of the heart because of the exercise of perfection, let them preach and bear fruit in humility. *The eyes of the Lord are upon the humble in heart, and his ears unto their prayers*.

When the devil wishes to contaminate the mind of the religious, unmindful of fornication, he first tests their mind in the love of vainglory, because the beginning of this thought is not thought to be a vice. For thus he is accustomed to do to those who guard their mind, in whom he cannot sow iniquitous thoughts; and after he has led them out by his announcement, and has begun to dispute with the former thought, and has distanced them; immediately it occurs to him there in the form of fornication, and subverts the mind in matters of luxury. And at first indeed they are disturbed by their sudden incursion because of the preceding chastity of thoughts, which had occurred to things from which the mind had been separated. And although they are not contaminated entirely, yet he casts them down from their own dignity. But if the mind has been turned backward, and has trampled upon the first thought of insult, which is the cause of the over-saying of the method; then the vice can be easily overcome. For it is better to suborn vices by the memory of virtues than by struggle; since when vices recede from their region, and are moved by struggle, then they imprint upon the mind images and forms of potencies: for this great struggle here possesses against the mind, vehemently disturbing thoughts and exciting a tumult. But according to the first determination which we have said, the footprints of all vices do not even appear in the mind after expulsion.

^D Corporal labor and the meditation of divine Scriptures preserve purity, but hope and fear corroborate labor. Emancipation from all things and unceasing prayer constitute hope and fear in the mind. As long as a man receives not the Paraclete, he needs divine Scriptures, so that the memory of good things may be informed in his mind, and from continual reading the movement in good may be renewed in him, and he may guard his soul, and from every subtlety of sin, because he has not yet acquired the virtue of the Spirit, which prolongs the error capturing useful records of the soul, and approaching the coldness of mind which happens in the sprinkling of it. For when the virtue of the Spirit supervenes upon the virtue of the soul which operates through it, then instead of the law of the Scriptures, the mandates of the Spirit are brought forward, and it needs no aid from sensual matter. For as long as the heart is instructed by animal things, error and forgetfulness naturally accompany the doctrine: but when the doctrine of the Spirit is present, then memory is kept unharmed. There are good and evil thoughts, similarly also acts of will. The first order, namely of thoughts, is a motion passing in the mind; like a wind that rises in the sea, and raises itself into a wave. The second, namely the order of acts of will, is as it were a pavement and foundation, and according to the pavement the ends are not made according to the motion of thoughts, the retribution of good and evil. The soul does not rest from the motion of convertible thoughts: but if (24) into each of those mutations you have sown disgrace in the foundation of the heart not existing, you are to the other while daily against your evils and goods.

A bird without feathers is the mind newly led out from the connection of vices through penitence, and in the time of prayer struggling to be raised from earthly things, and unable: but still crawling upon the face of the earth, and still not able to fly. Nevertheless, it gathers its thoughts in reading, and operation, and fear, and the care of truth. For besides these it cannot know anything, and these also preserve the mind unpolluted for a short time: but afterwards come memories, and disturb and contaminate the heart, because it does not yet feel the tranquil air of liberty, to which it gathers the mind after a long time through the oblivion of things, since it still has bodily wings.

^B or rather, those are the virtues, that is, the virtues which act openly. For the soul has not yet looked upon the virtues of contemplation, nor has it deserved to feel them; these are the wings of the mind by which it is distanced from earthly things and approaches the heavenly. As long as one serves the Lord in sensible things, one contemplates divine matters in figures, and the forms of the things themselves are fashioned within one's thoughts; but when one proceeds to interior things, then according to the measure of one's own sensuality, the mind will for a time be higher than the forms of things. When your soul has drawn near so that you may exit from the darkness, let these things be a sign to you: your heart glows and grows warm, like fire day and night, so that you consider the whole world as dung and ashes, and you do not crave food because of the sweetness of the miraculous and fervent thoughts which are ever moving in your soul, and suddenly a fountain of tears is given to you like a mountain torrent, without violence, which is commingled with all your deeds. But when you have seen these things in your soul, be strengthened, because you have crossed the sea; and thus add to your deeds, and keep good watch, that grace may be multiplied in you from day to day, until you meet Him here. For you have not yet finished your journey, unless you reach the work of God. But if, after you have come and received the grace of tears, the tears have ceased, and your warmth has grown cold without the alteration of another thing, namely, bodily infirmity, then take care, lest you have fallen into pride or negligence. If you do not have works, do not speak of virtues. Precious in the sight of the Lord are the tribulations which are for Him and on account of Him, and they are above every prayer and sacrifice and incense, and their sweat is above all aromatics.

These things, however, happen to those who are simpler of heart and more fervent in hope, and others like them follow after assiduous labor and purity: all of which are prepared for those who walk in the path of the commandments of God: here, indeed, one tastes of God at the beginning of the way on account of the faith of his soul. For all things whatsoever God wills, He does. Blessed are those who have girded their loins for the sea of tribulations, in simplicity, in an inscrutable manner on account of the love of God: and they have not turned their backs, because they shall be directed all the faster to the harbor of salvation, and they will rest in the tabernacles of those who have labored well, and they will be comforted from their tribulations, and they will exult in the joy of their heart. Those who run in hope do not turn back because of the roughness of the way, nor do they pause to inquire about this roughness; but passing through this sea and seeing the roughness, they offer thanks to God, because He has delivered them from constraints and crags and roughnesses of this kind, though they themselves did not know it. Those, however, who revolve many thoughts in their minds, wishing to be too wise, because they expose themselves to the subversions of thoughts, prepare themselves for sloth; and wishing to foresee the way of danger, many of them are found always sitting before the doors of their houses, as if saying—just as the sluggard who is sent on his way says—: "There is a lion in the way, and a murderer in the streets" (Prov. xxvi, 13); and alongside them those saying: "We saw the sons of giants, and we were as locusts before them" (Num. xiii, 34). These are they who, in their time on the way, always want to be wise; but they are not at all able to set a beginning. But the simple man swims across in the first heat, taking no care for the body, nor thinking within himself whether he might gain anything or not from his negotiation.

Whatever virtue is performed without bodily labor, count it as an inanimate abortion. The oblation of the just is the tears of their eyes; and the acceptable sacrifice is their groaning in vigils. Humble prayer is as if from the mouth to the ears of God: "O Lord my God, do ^C You illumine my darkness in the time of Your tranquility." Cry out in good works, being humbled: the just shall cry unto the Lord, constrained by the weight of the body, and in pain they shall send prayers toward God, as in the cry of their voice the holy orders will approach for aid, that they may strengthen them and console them in hope. The holy angels communicate in sufferings and tribulations on account of their proximity. Good work and humility make a man a god upon the earth: but faith and mercy make one pass quickly to purity. It is impossible for warmth and contrition to exist in one soul, just as in one man it is impossible for inebriation and the modesty of understandings to coexist: when this warmth is given to the soul, contrition and mourning are taken away from it. And wine is for joy; but warmth is for the joy of the soul: show to yourself that which warms the body; but the word of God ^D is for the minds of the future age. Just as those who are inebriated with wine imagine altered figures and forms; so also those who are inebriated with hope and are warmed do not perceive tribulation, nor anything secular.

Let not a multitude of wisdom become a slippery slope of the soul and a snare before your face: but confident in God, manfully set the beginning of walking along the way which is full of fatness: "Lest you ever appear needy and naked of the knowledge of God" (cf. Eccle. x, 4); for he who is timid and who waits for the winds shall not sow; for death for God is better than life with shame and sloth. When you wish to begin the work of God, first make your will, as if you were not to live in this life, and like one who has prepared himself for death, despairing of his life, until he arrives at the time of his end. And have these things in your mind, and take care that you be not hindered by the hope of a penitent life from fighting and conquering. For the hope of this life relaxes the soul with the greatest pleasure, both of the soul and of the body; and no less explored is the fact that frequent actions of the virtues thin, wear down, break, and consume the body, especially when the body is to be tamed, and unbridled pride is to be blunted.

^A in your mind; wherefore do not devise anything at all, but give place to faith in your mind, and be mindful of the days that will be after your death, and never will any relaxation come to you, according to the Wise Man, who says that a thousand years of this age are not like one day in the age of the righteous. In your strength, begin every good work, nor approach it with a double mind, nor hesitate in your heart concerning hope, lest your labor become useless and the prayer of your labor burdensome; but believe in your heart that the Lord is merciful, and to those who seek Him He gives grace, not according to our work, but according to the multitude and faith of our souls. For He says: "Be it done to you as you have believed."

There are diversities of operations. For one man bears the virtue of his own head for the gathered hours, acting thus all day. Another labors with genuflections, and so, remaining in them, gathers the number of his prayers. Another supplies the place of his gatherings with a multitude of tears, and is content with them. Another is solicitous in the meditation of his intention, and gathers the enjoined rule. Another tortures his soul with hunger, so that he is not even able to complete his gatherings. Another, remaining in the fervent contemplation of the psalms, makes that his continuous gathering. Another studies reading, and his heart grows warm. Another is carried away, considering divine intellects. Another, stupefied by wonder at himself, is hindered from silence, kept back from his customary meditation. Another, having tasted of all these ^B and being satisfied, has turned backward and remained empty. Another, having tasted a little of these, has become puffed up and gone astray. Another is hindered by much infirmity and his own weakness from keeping his rule. And another, occupied by the habit of some concupiscence, or ambition, or vain glory, or even by a thought, falls. Another has fallen and risen, and has not turned his back until he has received the most precious pearl. With joy and readiness always begin the work of God; and if you have been cleansed from vices and the hesitation of the heart, God Himself will make you ascend to the summit of the virtues, and will help you, and will make you wiser, and according to His will you will wonderfully attain to perfection. To Whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.

CHAPTER XVIII. What hinders the heart, lest it fall into evils

QUEST. By what bond is the heart held, lest it run to evils? RESP. To follow wisdom always, and to study doctrine in life. For no other bond resists the unbridled ^C nature of the mind more strongly. Q. How far 14 is the limit of the journey of one following wisdom, and in what does his doctrine end? R. It is so impossible to find this limit, that even the saints suffer defect regarding its progress, and it is also conterminous with wisdom; for it is elevated to such a degree, until it unites its pursuer to God, and this is the sign that its contemplation is without end, because wisdom is God Himself. Q. What is the first path and the beginning of those things which make us approach wisdom? R. That one should follow wisdom with all his strength, and in following should sustain with his whole mind, so that even, when it is expedient, he may strip off life itself, and cast it from him, nor become negligent on account of love of self. Q. Who is he who is worthily named understanding? R. He who has truly understood what is the limit of this life: for the same man is able to place a limit to his faults. For what science, or what intellect is greater than this, namely, that one should devise how he may be able to depart from this life, when in his corruption he does not have any member infected with the stench of concupiscence, or a stain of the soul soiled by its sweetness? For a man who sharpens his intellects so that he may enter into the secrets of all natures, and is enriched in discovery and consideration in every science, and yet his soul exists defiled with the filth of sin, and he has not acquired testimony in the hope of his soul, but thinks he is arriving well at the port of confidence—the world has no one more foolish than him. For his works do not lead him to hope of this kind, on account of their unending course. Q. Who is strong in truth? R. He who prospers in temporal tribulations, in which the glory of his victory is hidden: nor does he desire the delight in which is hidden the life of confusion, which always offers the cup of weeping to those who find it. Q. If one is harmed on the journey by which one goes to God, if someone turns aside from the study of good works on account of temptations? R. It is not fitting for anyone to approach Christ without tribulation; nor without it is anyone’s justice preserved unaltered: and if anyone demands works which increase it, he recedes from it, ^D nor does he preserve it: but he is found as a treasure unguarded, and as an athlete stripped of his arms, when the line of his enemies surrounds him, and as a ship not having its equipment, and as an orchard deprived of the fountain of irrigation. Q. Who is illuminated in his intellects? R. Whoever arrives at the bitterness which is hidden in the sweetness of the world, and holds his mouth, nor tastes of this cup, and always scrutinizes the salvation of his soul, nor ceases from his course until he is dissolved from this world: he also closes the doors of his senses, lest the concupiscence of this world ever enter into him, and steal his treasures in secret. Q. What is the world, and how do we know it, and in what does it harm those who love it? R. The world is a harlot, who by the desire of her beauty draws those who see her to concupiscence: but whoever, having been deceived in particular by her love, has embraced her, cannot escape from her hands,

until she has stripped him of his life. And when she has stripped him of all things, she casts him out of her house, and in the day of his passing, man knows her ^A (28). When, however, one labors to depart from this world, while he is still hidden within it, he cannot see its connections; and thus it detains in the world not only his fellow-disciples and children, and those who are bound with him, but also those who possess nothing of their own—namely, the religious, who break its chains—if they have been made into one above it. Now it begins in certain ways to hunt in its works, and not only that, but also to trample him.

Q. What shall we do to the body, when pain and gravity surround it, because the will of primary fortitude is relaxed with the desire for the good? R. This happens many times, because half of them has gone out after God, and the remaining half has stayed in the world; and their hearts are not separated from the things that are here, but are divided; and sometimes they look forward, but sometimes backward. And as I think, those who are divided in such a way and approach God, Scripture warns, saying: *Do not approach God in duplicity of heart* (Eccli. 1, 36); but approach Him as one who sows and harvests (Eccli. vi, 19). And the Lord, to those who renounce imperfectly and are divided, and return in mind backwards by reason of the fear of tribulations, you shall know that they had not yet cast off from themselves the desire of the flesh. When He wanted to cast that out from their minds, He spoke to them a definitive word: *Whoever wishes to come after me, let him first deny himself* (Matt. xvi, 24); so that, just as he who is prepared to ascend the cross takes into his mind the intention of death and thus goes forth, like a man not thinking of having a share again in this life, so must he do who wishes to perfect the aforesaid. For the cross is a will prepared for every tribulation.

Again, when the Lord wished to say why this would be, He said: *He who wishes to live in this world will lose himself from true life. But he who loses himself for my sake here, will find himself there* (cf. John xii, 25). That is, he who crosses by the way of the cross and sets his steps upon it, and has again concern for this life, loses himself from the hope for which, so that he might sustain it, he went forth; because concern of this kind does not permit him to approach the tribulations which are sustained for God; but on account of the delay which he draws out in the same, concern drags him along, and leads him out from the contest of the life of beatitude. And this thought is increased in him so much that it overcomes him; and: *He who loses his soul for my sake* in his mind, and for the sake of my love: *he shall be kept unharmed and innocent unto eternal life.* For this person who loses his soul for my sake shall find it hereafter. Therefore, prepare your soul for a total extermination from this life, and as I have promised, I will give you eternal life; and in this ^B also life, for your work I will show My promise and the certainty of future goods: for then you will find the eternal, when you have neglected this one. And when you have entered interiorly into such preparation, then all things which are reputed to be laborious and tribulating will be contemned in your eyes. For when the mind has been so prepared, it has no struggle nor tribulation in the time of the danger of death. On account of which, for certain, unless a man has had hatred for his life in this world on account of the affection of the future life, he will not be able to sustain tribulations.

Q. How does man cut off his first custom, and accustom himself in life to religion and poverty? R. The body does not acquiesce to living without necessities: but in so far as it is possible, the mind keeps itself from pleasures and relaxation, as long as it stands far from these things which operate relaxation. For when it sees the materials of the things of pleasure, concupiscence is excited in it with fervor: on account of which the Savior, when following him, commanded him to be despoiled and to go out of the world, because it behooves man to cast off the causes of relaxation from himself, and thus to approach labor. And the Lord Himself also, when He began to fight with the devil, overcame him in a most dry desert. And Paul also admonishes those taking up the cross of Christ to go out of the city, saying: *Let us go forth with him, and let us take up his reproach* (Hebr. xiii, 13). Because Christ suffered outside the city, through the segregation of the world and those things which are its own.

Does one quickly hand over to oblivion his first custom, and does he not labor in these for a long time? Because of the iniquity of the world and its things, the mind is relaxed from its fortitude as quickly as possible. For it is expedient for a monk that he live in this struggle, so that he may be in the necessity and poverty of the state of a monk's cell, and that his cell may be empty, and free of all things which move the desire for rest in him. When the causes of relaxation are far from a man, he is not endangered in a double battle, interior and exterior. For when a man is in need of the necessary utility of his tabernacle, then even the utility of it becomes contemptible, nor in the time of necessity does he see food with desire, and with a little something he makes the body to be content, and he sees that also as if it were contemptible, nor for ^D the sake of the delectation of food does he eat, but so that he may sustain and comfort nature. For the occasions of this life quickly transform a man to religion without tribulation and sadness of mind: it is expedient, however, for a monk by no means to be mixed with those attacking him, but to abstain from their very gazes, and to distance himself from their nearness: and I say this not only for the belly, but also for all things in which the liberty of monks is examined and proved.

When a man approaches God, he makes a covenant with God to abstain from all these things which are here: not

to see the face of a woman, nor to look upon the appearance of the beautiful, nor to covet anything, nor to feast, nor to wear fine garments: not to see or look upon the dignities of secular men, nor ever to hear their words, nor those things which pertain to them. For vices acquire great strength from their nearness—vices that loosen and alter the wisdom and resolve of the athlete. And if the sight of good things moves the judgment of one who has zeal, so that he is inclined to the performance of them, it is manifest that the sight of contrary things has the power of captivating the mind to itself. And sometimes it becomes even more [necessary] for the solitary to be restrained, when battle is brought upon him. And therefore a certain religious elder among the combatants, seeing a certain beardless youth resembling women, considered this harmful to his mind, and damaging ^B to his warfare. For who could confidently interpose himself in the affairs of others, after this holy man did not accept entering, so that he might greet that brother? For that elder wisely determined: "For, if I think even this night that this person is such," he said, "no small loss will happen to me." On account of which he said to others: "I indeed, my sons, do not fear; nevertheless, why do I wish to bring struggle upon myself in vain?" For the remembrance of such things makes for fruitless tribulation for the mind. Man has a battle for every member of the body, and he ought to guard himself, and dismiss the battle in these, as if it had already approached: and although a man does violence to himself for the good, he is nevertheless in peril from always seeing and coveting. Just as many medicinal herbs are hidden in the earth, and in summer no one recognizes them because of the heat; but when they have been moistened by water, and have perceived the vigor of the air's cold, then each of them appears, and you observe where it had been buried in the earth: so also man, when he is in the grace of tranquility and the fervor of abstinence, rests from many vices; but when he approaches seculars, then he sees how any vice is excited, and lifts up its head, especially when it has smelled the odor of rest. I have said these things, however, so that no one may trust in his own body, as long as he lives, until he dies, and so that I may show how much flight and a long retreat from the world help against those things which bring us confusion in the remembrance of themselves. It is expedient for us to fear, and not to trample upon the conscience and despise it. Let us attempt to lead the body into the desert, and let us do that by which we may acquire patience. But greater than all is that we prolong the causes of the battle from ourselves, although from this the body suffers distress. Because I fear that, when the occasion and necessity arise, one might incur ruin on account of their proximity. Q. Whoever has cast away temptation from himself, and has entered into battle, what is his beginning in the battle of abstinence, and whence does the battle begin? R. That is known to all, that for every struggle the beginning ^C and the beginning of concupiscence is the labor of fasting, most of all for those fighting against the sin that is within us. A sign also of hatred against sin, and its concupiscence, appears from this in the combatants of this invisible battle, if they cooperate with fasting by the vigil of the night. Whoever, however, throughout his whole life loves the society of this marriage, he becomes a friend of chastity. For just as rest of the belly is the beginning of all evils, and the loosening of sleep which kindles the concupiscence of luxury, so the holy way of God and the foundation of every virtue is fasting and vigilance in the service of God, in the crucifixion of the body throughout the whole night against the sweetness of sleep. Fasting is the protection of every virtue, and the beginning of the struggle, and the crown of the continent, and the beauty of virginity and holiness, and the splendor of chastity, and the beginning of the way of Christianity, and the mother of prayer, and the fount of wisdom, and the master of tranquility, which precedes all good things. Just as the healthy eye imitates the desire of light, so follows the fasting which is done with discretion, the desire of prayer. When one has begun to fast, from this, the desire to address God and to arrive at Him begins in his mind. The fasting body does not wait in its bed to sleep the whole night, when the seal of fasting is placed over the mouth of the man, the mind meditates with compunction, and his heart produces prayer, and sadness lies upon his countenance, and depraved thoughts are moved far from him. Mirth is not found in his eyes, and of concupiscences and of vain talk he is no friend. I have never seen anyone fasting with discretion, brought into servitude by evil concupiscence: for this is a great gift for every good thing, since it is a precept; and he who neglects it removes every good which from the beginning was imposed for the custody of our nature, and from thence establishes the beginning of our formation. Nevertheless, whence the first extermination was made, thence the combatants come to the fear of God, after they have begun to keep His law. Also the Savior, when He appeared to this world, began. For after baptism, the Spirit led Him into the desert, and He fasted for forty days 46. Similarly, moreover, also all who go out after Him and follow Him, place the beginning ^D of their battle upon this foundation. For the armor is operated by God: who will neglect it, and not be held guilty? And if He who issued the law fasts, who is there of those observing the law whom it does not behoove to fast? On account of which until then the human race was ignorant of victory, nor had the devil experienced his own shameful 16 defeat through our nature, before fasting. In this armor from the very beginning man was formidable; and our Lord Jesus Christ, the prince and firstborn of victory, was made [the victor], so that He might give the first crown of victory over the head of our nature. And the devil when he sees this armor in any of men, is immediately terrified, and comes to

the memory of His victory which He experienced in the desert, and His virtue is confounded in the armor given to us by our Prince.

What weapons, then, are stronger than these and provide more fortitude in the battle which takes place against malignant spirits, as is proven by the experience of Christ? For the more the body is fatigued and afflicted, the more the heart of man is defended by confidence during the time when the line of demons surrounds him: and he who is clothed in the armor of fasting is at all times fervent. The zealot Elias, when he was zealous for the law of God, conquered in this armor, bringing back to the memory of its possessor the commands of the Holy Spirit. Fasting is a mediatrix of the Old Testament and of the grace given to us by Christ. He who neglects fasting is lax and infirm regarding other ramparts, shows a sign of the soul’s relaxation, and gives room for victory to him who fights against him. Because he enters the battle naked, it is evident that he departs from it naked, for his members are not clothed with the fervor of hunger. Furthermore, through fasting man is kept unshaken in mind during the onset of difficult vices. It is said of many martyrs that they tasted nothing on the day in which they waited for the crown of martyrdom, but, as if prepared for a wedding, they awaited the encounter with the sword in fasting, with hymns, psalms, and canticles. ^B

We too, who are called to invisible martyrdom to receive the crowns of sanctification, let us watch, lest in any part we exhibit a sign of denial to our enemies. There are some possessing these works who seek peace of thoughts and do not feel the tranquility of the vices. O brothers, the vices are hidden in the soul and are not corrected by bodily labors alone, nor are they constrained by those thoughts among those who are always awakened by their senses; for such labors protect men from concupiscence, lest they be overcome by it and by the disturbance of demons. They do not, however, impede the peace and tranquility of the soul; but then the members which are on earth are mortified and provide peace of thought when we share in solitude. For although the exterior senses may quickly cease from disturbance and persist in a good operation, man will feel peace for some time; yet as long as the course is not finished for man, and his members have not ceased from the diffusion of thoughts, and he has not gathered himself into himself, he cannot know his own infirmity. For quietude, as the blessed Basil says, is the beginning of the purity of the soul. When the exterior members have ceased from exterior schism and distraction toward the exterior region, the heart is awakened to the examination of the intentions which are within the soul; and if they remain well, such a man will begin to walk toward the purity of the soul.

R. A tree which is watered daily, when its root is dried up and the vessel that receives its increase daily is diminished: and if the world ^C has conquered it, what is that but avoiding conversations and withdrawing from custom? He who actually renews in himself or in others through his senses the memory of that same liberty, which is the recognition of malice, will not be able to cleanse his soul from this; or when will he be able to cease from exterior attackers, even if he contemplates? For if the heart is soiled daily, when is it cleansed from filth, and if it cannot resist the effect of exterior things, how much less can it cleanse the heart? And what man, established in the midst of an army and daily expecting to hear the proclamation of war, presumes to make a pact in his own soul? Nevertheless, when he has been distanced from this, then first will he be able to rest a little from within; because as long as the river flows from above, its waters below are not at all dried up. When someone comes into quietude, then the soul can examine the vices and discern the wisdom which is in it; then the interior man is awakened to the works of the spirit, and day by day he perceives the hidden wisdom which flourishes in his soul; immediately he arrives at the grace of tears which flow without violence, and it leads him to the perfection of the love of God. ^D

Q. What are the certain arguments and signs approaching one who is beginning to see the hidden fruit in his soul? R. It is that one has merited the grace of many tears, which flow without violence. For just as tears are placed as a boundary for the mind between things corporeal and spiritual, and between viciousness and purity: as long as man does not receive this gift, the efficacy of his work still remains in the exterior man, and he has not yet perceived the efficacy of the hidden things of the spiritual man. For when one has begun to be separated from the bodily things of this age, and thus to have seen the boundary which is within nature, in passing to this grace of tears, he has immediately arrived. And by the first hidden conversation alone, these tears begin, which lead him to the perfection of the love of God; and the more he proceeds there, the more he is enriched in it, until he drinks these tears in his drink and food, on account of their great perseverance; and this is a sign of certitude, that the mind has withdrawn from this world and perceives that spiritual world. The more ^D one approaches with his mind to this world, the more he incurs a deficiency of these tears: and when his mind has been entirely in this world, he suffers a total deficiency of such tears. And it is a sign that he is buried in vices. Some tears are scorching, and some are fattening. But all tears which proceed from the heart on account of sins dry out the body and scorch it, and harm the brain itself. Of the first, indeed, through this order man occurs by necessity, and through them the door is opened to him for entering into the second, better order, which is the joy in which man receives mercy. These are the tears which [original-script column: see facsimile]

^A flow from the intellect, which adorn the body and at the same time nourish it, and flow forth of their own accord without violence. And the countenance of a man is altered: as it is said, the face blooms when the heart is gladdened.

Q. What is the resurrection of the soul, which the Apostle speaks of: *If you be risen with Christ*, etc.? A. That which the Apostle said: *God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness* has shone ^B truly in your hearts, calling it a resurrection, showing a withdrawal from the old state, namely, that man becomes new, having nothing of the old. *I will give them my heart* (30) *and a new spirit*. For then Christ is formed in us through the spirit of wisdom and the revelation of the knowledge of God.

17 Q. What is brevity of speech? A. The virtue of the work of solitude: solitude mortifies the outward senses and stirs up inner movements, but external activity works the contrary of these. Q. What is this cause of visions and revelations; since some see, while others labor—more than they—and yet vision does not work in them? A. There are many causes: some occur through the dispensation of grace for general utility; others occur for comfort and instruction. And first, indeed, all these things are dispensed to men by the mercy of God. And this occurs in three ways for the most part. Either in the more simple, who are entirely without malice, or in some perfectly holy ones, or in those who have the burning zeal of faith and have despaired of this world, who have perfectly renounced and withdrawn from the cohabitation of men, and have gone forth naked after God, expecting no aid from visible things, upon whom fear sometimes encroaches because of solitude: or when the danger of death surrounds them from hunger or illness, or even from some incursion or tribulation, so that they even approach despair. Therefore, consolations which occur to such do not occur to those who surpass them in labor: the first cause of this is that the more one has human consolation from any visible thing, the less such consolations happen to him unless by some dispensation of the community. But our discourse is about solitaries; and one of the Fathers testifies to this, who poured forth prayers for that very consolation and heard: The consolation and conversation of men was sufficient. Another in the same manner, when he was in solitude and lived according to the custom of solitaries, was feasted at every hour by the grace of ^C consolation. But when he had approached the world, he sought it according to custom, and did not find it: and he besought God that the cause be revealed to him, saying: “Lord, has grace departed from me because of the episcopate?” The answer given to him was: “No; but because the Lord dispenses with those who dwell in the desert, so as to make them worthy of this consolation.” For it is unseemly for anyone to receive divine consolation, and that specifically, unless it be on account of some dispensation of the aforementioned.

CHAPTER XIX. Revelationes. Mundus corde quis sit.

Q. Is revelation and vision the same thing? A. No; rather there is a difference. For revelation is often spoken of in respect to two things: for because the hidden thing is revealed, every vision is called a revelation, but not every revelation is called a vision. For revelation is for the most part received by those who are deficient and have tasted it in their mind. A vision is made, as it were, by images and forms, as it used to happen to the ancients either in deep sleep or while awake; and sometimes it is more certain, sometimes it is in a phantom, and in a certain way obscure: because of which even he who sees often does not know whether he sees while awake, or while sleeping, or hears a reception through a voice. Sometimes, however, he sees a form, sometimes more clearly, to wit, face to face. And both vision and colloquy are holy powers, and those who appear to the worthy and produce revelations in desert places and regions most remote from men. These things, therefore, happen when a man has need of them by necessity, if he has no other reception or consolation from the place. But the revelations which follow in the mind through purity are accepted (31), and exist only for the perfect and for the experienced. Q. If someone attains to purity of heart, what is its sign; and when does a man know that he has arrived at the purity of his heart? A. When he sees that all men are good, and no one appears to him unclean or contaminated, then he is pure of heart, since the word of the Apostle is perfected: *Esteem all others as better than yourselves out of the sincerity of the heart*; unless he attains to that which is said, *A good eye does not see evils*.

Q. What is purity, and what is its limit? A. Purity is the oblivion of the species of knowledge which are against nature, which nature finds in the world: the limit, however, by which one is freed from them, is that man returns to the first simplicity of his nature and innocence, as a child without the defect of childhood. Q. Is it fitting for someone to attain to this order? A. Yes: behold, abbot Sisoes attained to this measure in such a way that he would ask his disciple if he had eaten or not? And another of the Fathers came to such a simplicity, a little less than childish, that he had forgotten everything that is here, and would have eaten before communion if he were not hindered by his disciples; and his disciples led him to communion like a child; and indeed he was a child to the world, but in soul he was perfect before God. Q. What meditation and exercise should a solitary have in his solitude, lest the mind study vain thoughts? A. About the meditation and exercise by which a man is mortified in his cell. Could a man who is vigilant and alert, who has need of questioning regarding his soul, ask how he should converse while he is with himself? What else is the meditation of a monk than mourning in his cell? Could he, on account of mourning, be able to look even at any other thought?

^A What better meditation than this exists? For the very sitting and solitude of a monk is like to those who dwell in the tombs, which is far removed from human joy. It teaches him that mourning is his task, and the name itself of his calling induces him to this; for he is called ^B *luctuosus*, that is, bitter of heart. And all the saints, too, have departed from this life while mourning. Thus, since the saints mourned and their eyes were always full of tears, they all wept until they departed from this life. Indeed, the consolation of a monk is born from lamentation; and everywhere those who were perfect and triumphant wept here. He who is filled with wounds, how shall he bear to cease from lamentation? He who has his own death placed before him, needs instruction as to what thought he should use for his tears. Your soul is dead in sins, as it lies before your sight; it is a mother to you, more than the whole world, and it is in need of mourning. If we came into solitude, we would be able to remain in mourning: for which reason we beseech the Lord with an assiduous mind that this might be granted to us. For if we have obtained this grace, which is better and superior to other gifts, we shall enter into purity: and when we have entered into it, purity shall not be taken from us until our departure from this life. Blessed are the pure in heart; for there is no time in which they do not perceive the delight of such tears, and they themselves always contemplate the Lord: and while tears still exist in their eyes, they merit the vision of His revelations. ^C Moreover, in the excellence of their prayers, there is no prayer for them without tears. And this is what the Lord says: Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted. From mourning, indeed, does a man come to the mercy of the soul; for which reason the Lord says that they shall be comforted. He did not specify which consolation. For when a monk makes himself worthy to pass through the region of vices by means of tears, and has arrived at the field of the soul's purity, then there occurs to him a kind of consolation that is not passed over by those who find it, and in this occurs a consolation that is found here in no other way. And then he understands what manner of consolation the end of mourning receives, which God bestows upon those who mourn through purity. For it is indecent for anyone who is continuously mourning to be molested by vices. For it is more impossible that the tears of one mourning could, for a time, alter the mind from that remembrance. What shall we say of those who have this consolation by experience day and night? Moreover, the help that comes from tears, no one knows, save those who have surrendered their souls to this operation. ^D All the saints desire this introduction; because by tears the door will be opened before them, so that they may enter into the region of consolation: in which region they contemplate the footprints of God through revelation.

CAPUT XX.

How one ought to meditate in solitude.

From a violent operation arises an immeasurable heat, which is instilled into the heart from new thoughts that come anew to the mind. For operation and custody sharpen the mind in their own fervor, and provide vision; and this vision brings forth fervent thoughts, which I have previously mentioned in the depth of the vision of the soul, which is called contemplation. This contemplation, however, brings forth fervor; and by this fervor, which comes from the grace of contemplation, while a flow of tears is generated; in the beginning, indeed, first a few come to a man by day, and then they cease; and from this there come forth to him unceasing tears, and the soul receives the peace of thoughts and is exalted to the purity of the mind. Truly, through purity of mind it arrives at seeing secrets; for purity is hidden in peace, which succeeded the struggles. After this, however, the mind happens to see revelations and signs, just as the prophet Ezekiel sees, who designates three orders by which the soul approaches God. The beginning of all these is a good intention toward God, and the unchangeable species of the works of solitude, which are born from much abstinence and the distancing of worldly things; nor is it so necessary to recount these types of works one by one, because they are known to many: nevertheless, because the exposition of them is harmless to those who encounter them, and even useful, as I judge, I shall not be lazy in explaining them. These are: hunger, reading, the vigils of the whole night according to the ability of each person, a multitude of genuflections, which are necessary to be done many times in the hours of the day and night. Let them be done at least thirty times at each turn, and let the cross be adored, and thus then let one withdraw. There are some who have added to this number according to their own ability. Others in prayer do thrice thirty, having a vigilant mind without violence and exultation, prostrate on their face: and these two species manifest and expound the multitude of the riches of grace which are divided to each man according to his necessities. But what the mode of other prayer and perseverance in it is without violence, we have deemed it unworthy to publish, neither with words of the tongue nor the writing of a pen; lest, if a reader were found who grasped what he read, he might estimate as useless the things that were written. Or if one were found, and knowing this, he might despise it; surely no one who would be ignorant of the order of things; even if from this last thing contempt might happen, from the preceding desire and in this mode he appears as a barbarian in matters of this kind, according to the word of the Apostle who speaks of one prophesying. Whosoever therefore desires to add, and walks the way mentioned above, and makes his operation consonant with his mind, he himself shall learn, through himself, the one who has become accomplished in these things. Consequently

^A it is referred to his actions: explaining this, he who is perfected in the knowledge of God, that is, he who is destined by God. How then, even then, a man will not be in labor, nor in distress, as happens in other prayers that are performed before this one is attained; but with the joy of the heart and with wonder he produces expressions of gratitude continuously with silent genuflections; and because of the multitude of his movement toward knowledge, and of wonder and stupefaction at the grace of God, he suddenly raises his voice, praising and glorifying God, and offers thanks, and praying in a state of stupefaction, he does not move his tongue in the least. Whosoever, therefore, arrives thus far in truth and not in a phantom, and has set here many seals, and has recognized many differences because of much testing; he knows here that what I say is not contrary. Therefore, let him henceforth cease to think of such vices, and let him remain in God through continuous prayer, fearful and trembling, lest he be deprived of the multitude of God's help.

All these things are born in a man from the reflection upon his own infirmity. For from his great affection for divine help, he approaches God, remaining in prayer; and the more he approaches God, the more God reaches him through His charisms, and He does not take away His grace from him because of his great humility. That the Lord delays sometimes is because, just as that widow "cried out" ^B "incessantly to the judge who was judging against her adversary" (Luc. XVIII, 3). For this reason, the merciful Lord withholds from him those graces, so that this may become for him a material for approaching the same; and because of his necessity, he remains with Him, from whom useful things are produced; who, in some matters, shows his petitions quickly—I mean those without which he cannot be saved. But He withholds certain things from him, and in some matters, He shakes off and expels from him the burnings of the enemy. In some matters, however, He permits him to be tempted, so that this may become for him a cause of approaching God, as I said before, so that he may have experience of temptations and be disciplined. And this is the saying of the Scripture, that the Lord left many nations so that He might not scatter them, nor did He hand them over into the hands of Joshua the son of Nun, so that He might discipline in them the children of Israel, and so that the tribes of the children of Israel might be taught and learn war. But the righteous man who does not recognize his own infirmity has his affairs in a dry place, and he has not retreated from a fall, nor from the corrupting lion, namely, the demon of pride. And again: Whosoever is ignorant of his own infirmity ^C is lacking in humility; truly, he who is lacking in it is also lacking in perfection. And he who is lacking in it is always timid; because his city is not founded upon iron columns, nor upon brazen thresholds, that is, upon humility.

Chapter 22. That prayer is a refuge and a fountain of salvation.

When a man truly perceives that divine help is provided for him, he is immediately filled with faith, and understands from this that prayer is the refuge of help, and the fountain of salvation, and the treasury of confidence, and a light to those who are in darkness, and a harbor freeing one from a tempest, and help in the violence of sickness, and a shield of ^D liberation in battle, and a sharp arrow against enemies. And simply I say: through prayer, the whole multitude of good things holds its judgment; and therefore a man feasts in the prayer of faith, and his heart is adorned with confidence, and he in no way dwells in his former blindness and in the speech of the mouth: when he thus perceives with his mind, then he possesses prayer in his soul, like a treasure, and for the sake of much joy, he changes the forms of prayer into voices of thanksgiving. And this is the saying which he said, who defined the proper form of each thing. Since prayer is joy, grat- (Psalm L, 19).

Chapter 23. How humility is acquired.

However, no one can acquire humility, un-

- less he understands his own weakness by means of the ways through which contrition of heart is produced and thoughts of pride are despised. For this reason, the enemy many times sees the traces of the causes to turn a man aside. For without humility, a man's work cannot be completed, because it is in no way the ready instrument of his freedom, the seal of the Holy Spirit; rather, he still exists as a slave. And his work is not yet lifted up from fear: just as someone does not correct his work without humility, nor is he chastened except through temptations, and without chastening he does not comprehend humility. For this reason, the Lord allows the saints the causes of humility and of contrition of heart and of laborious prayer; and He many times terrifies them through the passions of nature and the slips of wicked and execrable thoughts, and many times also through insults and human words. Sometimes, however, ^B through illnesses and bodily infirmities, and sometimes through poverty and the lack of necessary things; sometimes also through the fear of dire pain, and abandonment, and even the manifest battle of the devil; through all of which he is accustomed to incurring fear: sometimes through material, diverse, and terrible things.

And indeed all these things happen so that he may have materials for humiliation, and so that the drowsiness of negligence may not befall him, whether from the things in which the athlete is seen to be weak, or even from future fear. Temptations, therefore, are necessarily useful to men. I do not say, therefore, that it is fitting for a man to laxly indulge himself in base things on purpose, so that an occasion for humility may be made for him by them, nor that he should hasten to enter into other temptations; but because it is fitting for him, while he labors in good, to be vigilant at all times and to consider that he is created: for this reason he is also fallible. Moreover, every created being needs divine virtue and protection; and everyone who needs the protection of another shows his natural infirmity. But everyone who acknowledges his own infirmity necessarily needs to be humbled in order to obtain his humility from Him who is able to help him; and if he had known from the beginning and had seen his own infirmity, he would not have been negligent, nor would he have fallen asleep, so that he might be handed over into the hands of those who harass him, so that they might awaken him. Whence, it is fitting for one walking in the way of God to give thanks to Him in all things that befall him, and to blame and revile his own soul ^D and to acknowledge that he would by no means have been permitted by the steward, unless it were through negligence or pride, to be awakened; nor let him fear from this, nor retreat, nor excuse himself, lest his own evil be doubled, because there is no injustice with God, who brings forth justice: far be it.

Chapter 24. On the perfections, virtues, and duties of monks.

It is fitting for a monk to be, in all his affairs, a model of humility to those who see him, so that from his many shining virtues, as if looking upon rays, the enemies of truth may, even against their will, confess that there is a sure hope of salvation for Christians; and as ^A if to a refuge, they may from every side run to him, and the horn of the Church may be exalted against her enemies, and many may be moved to the zeal of virtue, and may depart from the world, and he himself may become venerable through the beauty of his conversation. For monastic conversation is the glory of the Church of Jesus Christ. It is fitting, moreover, that the beautiful should, on every side of them, have a demeanor due to the vision of visible things, a most certain privation of things, an all-around contempt for the flesh, deep fasting, temperance constant in quietude, custody of the senses of sight, abstinence from all gatherings in the affairs of this world, brevity in speech, purity in much recollection, and simplicity with discretion: to know that this life is superfluous and empty, and that the spiritual and true one is near, not to bind himself to the friendships and union of men, to have a place of habitation for someone, to flee the help of man, and to persevere unceasingly in prayers, to have no ambition, nor to rejoice in honors, not to bind himself to this life, to bear temptations manfully, to be unburdened of worldly affections and of the questioning of things themselves, to continue to care for and meditate in the region of truth, to have a pale and wrinkled face, to weep by day and night, and more than all these things, to guard chastity, to be clean from the gluttony of the belly, and from small things even unto great ones. These are the virtues of the monk stated briefly, which bear witness to him concerning his total mortification in the world, and of his drawing near to God. It is fitting, therefore, that we always take care of these things. But if ^C anyone should say: What necessity was there to express each one individually and not speak of them generally and universally? I say, this was done necessarily, so that just as he who studies for his life has sought one of the aforementioned in his soul, and has found that he is in need of one of these, he may recognize therefrom his own defect in every virtue; and this odor will be for him in part a recollection. But when he has acquired all these things in himself, then the knowledge of the rest which we have not expressed will be granted to him; and he will be for men matter for the glorification of God, and from then on he will prepare for his soul a place of rest before he departs from this life.

Chapter XXV. De privatione consolationis spiritalis.

Let not a man be troubled, but let him read in the books of the Fathers and endure patiently.

Whoever conforms himself together with his mind, and so that he may converse in solitude, let him conform himself to his work, and according to the order of solitude lead the remainder of his years and days. But when it shall happen to you, O son, as is the custom in the order of solitude, by the divine grace constituting that the soul be troubled inwardly by darkness, and just as solar rays are veiled over the earth by the mist of clouds, you are deprived for a small time of spiritual consolation, and also the light of grace is troubled inwardly on account of the overshadowing cloud of vices, and the joy-bringing virtue is withheld from you for a little and an unaccustomed gloom overshadows your mind; do not be troubled in your soul, nor at

do you extend your hand toward ignorance, but endure patiently, and read in the books of the Fathers, and use violence upon yourself to pray, and wait for help, and it will come to you, even without your knowing it. For just as the face of the earth is revealed by the sun's rays when the darkness of the air has occupied it, so is prayer able to dissolve and annihilate from the soul the clouds of vices, and to irradiate the mind with the light of joy and consolation, which it is accustomed to beget in our thoughts; and especially when it has food from the sacred page, and from the vigilance which illuminates and enlightens the mind. For continuous reading in the Scriptures of the saints fills the soul with incomprehensible admiration and divine joy. And if at any time a man comes to tears, then his mind will go forth from prison. I tell you a thing, which, as a small thing, you must not despise, nor hesitate at these other words of mine, because they are truthful who have handed them down to me. If you have kept yourself from the eyelids—that is, if you have restrained your tears—do not think, when you have arrived at tears, that you have arrived at the continence of your conduct. For hitherto your hidden things have served the world: that is, you stand in the habitation of worldly things, and you perform the work of God through the exterior man. For the interior man still remains unfruitful, because his fruit has not reached the point of tears. But when you have arrived at the region of them, then know that your mind has gone forth from the prison of this world, and has set its foot upon the journey of the new man, and has begun to adore ^B the air of the marvelous and the new; and then it begins to pour forth tears, because the labor of the birth of the spiritual child begins. For grace, which is common among all, is transferred to the soul, so that it may bring forth a divine form in secret for the brightness of the future age; and when the time of birth arrives, the mind immediately begins to be moved in those things which are thence like a breath, by which the infant is drawn within the members in which it is nourished; and because it sustains that which is not a custom to it, it immediately begins to move the body to weeping mixed with the sweetness of honey; and by how much the more the infant is nourished inwardly, by so much more it has an increase of tears. But this order of tears, I have said, is not that which occurs solitarily ^C from excitation; because that consolation which occurs from time to time happens everywhere to one dwelling in solitude with God and to anyone existing in the contemplation of the mind, sometimes in the discourses of the Scriptures, sometimes in the occurrence of prayers. But I speak of that order which is present incessantly to one weeping night and day. Whosoever, however, finds for certain the truth of these forms, his eyes become like a fountain of waters, even for a biennium or more; but afterwards he enters into the peace of thoughts, and thus enters into that quiet of which blessed Paul speaks: As the head is in a particular way nature, from peaceful quiet also the mind begins to contemplate mysteries; and then the Holy Spirit begins to reveal to him celestial things, and God dwells in him and he excites in him the fruits of the Spirit; and from this he feels a change which he ought to receive in every innovation of the interior nature. I have written these things in a certain way, obscurely and as in a riddle, for your remembrance and that of all, according to what can be understood from the contemplation of the Scriptures and true prayers, and not yet from experience; so that help may be made for me through the prayers of those who have attained utility therefrom, because I have spent no small labor on these things. Hear also in that same place what I ought to tell you, which I have not learned from a fallacious mouth. When you will have entered into the region of the peace of thoughts, then a multitude of tears will be taken away from you, and afterwards tears will proceed in a convenient measure. This is the truth for certain, just as it is believed by the general Church.

CHAPTER XXVI.

Of the three orders in which a man makes progress.

^A a middle way? I said: He did not see it, except as through a glass, but he hoped from afar, and on account of this hope he was placed with his fathers. And he was not made worthy of this perfect grace. But he who always spoke of the same, and brought it to mind, and because he was moved with desire for it as much as he could while he lived, and recalled thoughts: his heart, filled with this hope, departs from the world; for everything that has humility seems refined, because the incorporeal exercise of the mind, concerning the desire that is directed by the consideration of the divine Scriptures, surrounds the soul interiorly before malignant thoughts, and preserves the mind in the remembrance of future goods, nor is the mind relaxed in its negligence towards the commemoration of secular things, because from these the heats of its impulses grow cold, and it falls into concupiscences.

CAPUT XXVII. Of the hope which comes through heart-felt faith and love.

Hope in God comes through heart-felt faith; and that which is good comes through discretion and knowledge. A man who does not care at all for temporal things, but commends himself to God day and night, nor is solicitous about any secular matter because of the zeal he bears regarding the virtues, and possesses all his care in things divine, and on account of this neglects the preparing for himself of food and clothing and the preparation of a place of habitation and everything else: this man hopes well and masterfully in God, that He himself ought to prepare necessary things for him: and this is the most prudent and true hope. For it is just for such a man to hope in God, since he exists as his servant, and applies himself with zeal to his work, without any negligence that might arise from some cause. For to him it is worthy that special providence be made by God, because he keeps the commandment of him who said: Seek first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you. When we are thus disposed, the world, as a servant, will prepare all things for us, and as to masters will without doubt obey our words: and it will not resist our wills. Let him, therefore, not cease from his state continually before God; he does not hand himself over to caring for the necessary utility of the body, nor does he care about anything else than just to become idle, for the fear of God, from such solicitude, great or small: whence he will obtain those things that look toward pleasure. However, all these things are wondrous, nor does he care for them, nor does he labor in them. For a man who has his heart buried deeply in the earth, and always eats earth with the serpent, and in no way strives to please God, but is distracted and dissolute in all corporal things, and is idle from all virtue because of constant conversation and the luxury of pride, and proposes certain occasions: this man on account of sloth and idleness has already fallen from the good; and it happens that when he is constrained by some necessity or death, or by the fruit of his own iniquities, he says: I will hope in God, and he himself will heal me without ^B solicitude, and he will afford help to me. Fool, until now you have not remembered God, nay rather you have injured him through the vices of your works, through you the name of the Lord is blasphemed by the Gentiles as it is written; and now you presume with full mouth to say: In him I will hope, and he himself will help me, and he will be solicitous for me? It is well said by God, confounding such ones, through the prophet saying: Daily they seek me, and wish to learn my ways. And just as some doing justice, and not abandoning the justifications of their God, seek judgment and justice. Of such a kind, indeed, is the fool, who even in mind is near to God. But when he is surrounded by tribulations, he lifts his hands confidently to God. This one, at any rate, has need of being disciplined many times from here and there, because he does not have a work worthy that he should confide in God. For on account of perverse thoughts and negligence in things that are fitting, he becomes worthy of discipline. God, however, on account of his mercy, sustains him, lest he deceive. Such a one therefore, if he forgets himself and the order of his conversation, and says that he confides in God, he will be disciplined, because he never has the works of faith. Let him not extend his foot in idleness; and let him say: I believe in God, who will give me things necessary, as if he were conversing in the works of God, nor let him foolishly cast himself into a pit, not having God in his mind, and say: I will hope in the Lord now at length ^C through the injury, and he will rescue me.

Do not err, O fool, because the labor and sweat which for God sake are done in his agriculture, precede the hope that is had in time. If you believe in God, you do well; but faith needs works, and the hope which is held from him needs afflictions unto virtues. I believe that God provides for his creatures, and is powerful in all. But let fitting operation follow your faith, and then he will hear you. Do not hold the wind in your fist, that is to say, your faith without works. Many times someone unknowingly walks through a way having a malignant beast, or murderers, or something similar; and this is common providence of God, that he rescues from such a path, or hinders the impetus of the journey through some causes, until the malignant beast passes by, or someone meets him, so that he may turn him from the journey. Also, a wicked serpent is sometimes found lying in the way and hiding; and God, not wishing to expose a man to this harm, causes the serpent to hiss suddenly and to recede from that place, or to crawl before him; so that he, seeing it, may beware for himself, that he may be rescued from it, which he made infested for us, because of his hidden sins which he alone knows. He rescues him, however, on account of his mercy, and it happens that the house falls and collapses utterly from its place, and yet sometimes for his own ^D

sake God permits a certain angel to hold it back so that it may not fall, until they arise and depart from there, or else by certain causes He leads them out, so that no one may be found under it; but when they are immediately terrified, He at least permits the same thing, for if it happens that anyone is occupied, He causes him to be preserved unharmed, because He wishes the magnitude of His virtue to be made manifest by this. Therefore, the common and general providence of God is of this kind. But the just man possesses it inseparably: and God has commanded the rest of men, with discretion, to oversee those things that concern them, and to acquire the knowledge of the providence of God. But the just man does not need this kind of knowledge for the discretion of his affairs, because he has already acquired faith instead of knowledge, through which he lays aside all pride that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and he will fear nothing above the things mentioned. For it is written that the just man trusts as a lion ^A in all things: presuming faith, not as if tempting God, but more securely in Him as one armed, and clothed in the power of the Holy Spirit. And the more he has assiduous solitude with God, the more God also says of him: I am with him in tribulation, I will deliver him, and I will glorify him: with length of days will I fill him, and I will show him my salvation. But he who is weary and lazy cannot have this hope in his work; but he who remains continuously with God in all things, and approaches Him by the beauty of his works, and incessantly extends the affection of his heart to His grace, as the blessed David said: My eyes have failed, while I hoped in my God.

CAPUT XXVIII. On mourning and labor with discretion.

When we have desired to flee from the world and to become strangers to worldly things, nothing so separates us from the world nor mortifies our carnal vices and vivifies our spiritual ones, as mourning and labor with interior discretion. For the face of the humble man imitates the humility of the Beloved. Nothing makes us live in the world, and with the drunken, luxurious people who are in it, and nothing so separates us from the treasures of the wisdom and knowledge of God's secrets, as laughter, which is the invention of fornication. And since I have perceived your philosophy, friend, I ask you in charity, that you guard yourself against the incursions of friends, lest by the unbridled nature of your words you chill your soul from the heat of the charity of Christ, who tasted gall for you on ^B the wood of the cross, and instead of that sweet meditation and security in God, you be filled with the darkness of many fantasies; and while you are dozing, let your soul be occupied by irrational dreams, the stench of which the holy angels cannot endure, and thus you become a mockery to others and a stimulus to yourself. Compel yourself to imitate the humility of Christ, that the fire may be ignited which is inspired in you by Him, in which the movements of this age, which kill the new man and pollute the courts ^C of the holy and strong God, are eradicated. And I, a weak man, say according to Paul that we are the temple of God. Let us therefore cleanse His temple, just as He himself is clean, that He may desire to dwell in it. Let us sanctify it, just as He himself is holy. Let us adorn it with all good works, and let us perfume it as an offering with incense, in which His will rests, that is, with heartfelt and clean prayer, which on account of communion with secular things cannot be acquired. Thus will the cloud of the glory of God overshadow the soul, and the splendor of His majesty will shine in his heart, and all the inhabitants of the tabernacle of God will be filled with joy and gladness: but the impudent and shameless shall fail in the flame of the Holy Spirit.

Reproach yourself, O brother, always saying: O miserable soul, your dissolution from the body approaches; why do you take delight in those things which you must leave today, and from whose sight you shall be dragged away forever? Heed what is before you, and consider what you have done, what kind of things they are, and with whom you have conversed in all the days of your life; or who has received the labor of your work, and whom you have gladdened in your struggle, that he may go to meet you at the time of your passing, and in whom you have delighted in your encounter; in whose birth you rest: for whose grace you have afflicted yourself in labor, so that you might arrive at him with joy, in order to pay the reward you acquired at the sunset of your departure. You, inquire of yourself, O soul, and see, to what land is your casting forth. But if you have passed through a field bearing fruit in the bitterness of your cultivator, cry out and shout in groaning and anxiety, which more than sacrifices and burnt offerings appease the Lord your God. Let it produce sorrowful voices, in which the holy angels delight. Anoint your cheeks with tears, that the Holy Spirit may rest upon you, and wash you from the filth of your malice. Make God propitious to you by your tears, that He may come to you. Invite Mary and Martha that they may teach you sorrowful voices, cry out to the Lord and say:

CHAPTER XXIX. Devout prayer.

Lord, who wept over Lazarus, and shed tears of your compassion over him, receive the tears of my bitterness, heal my passions with your wounds, ^D heal my wound with your wounds, cleanse my blood with your blood, and temper to my body the scent of your lifegiving body. May the gall with which you were given to drink by your enemies render sweet my soul from the bitterness which the enemy adversary has poured out for me. May your body which was extended on the wood of the cross lift up to you my mind which has been dragged downward by demons. May your head which you reclined on the gallows of the cross raise up my head which has been buffeted by enemies. May your most holy hands, crucified with nails, lift me up to you from the confusion of perdition, just as your most holy mouth has promised. May your face, which received slaps

and spitting, cleanse my face, which is soiled by iniquities. May your soul, which you surrendered while you were upon the cross, lead me to you in your glory. I have no heart that suffers to seek you; I have no repentance or compunction, which lead the sons back to their inheritance. I have no tears of supplication, O Lord: my mind has been darkened by worldly things, nor can it look upon you in pain, and my heart has withered from a multitude of temptations, nor can it be warmed by the tears of your sweetness. But, O Jesus Christ, treasury of good things, grant me perfect repentance and a suffering heart, so that from it my soul may hasten to seek you: for without every good thing I shall be an alien. Therefore, give me your grace, O Jesus Christ. May the Father, who brought you forth from his own bosom eternally without time, renew in me the light of your image. I have left you 23, do not abandon me: I have gone forth from you, come forth to find me, and lead me into your pastures; number me among the elect sheep of your fold, and place me with them into the portions of your secret riches, whose habitation is a purified heart, and in which may be seen the splendor of your revelations, which are the consolation and refreshing of those who have labored for you in tribulations and all manner of afflictions; to which may we be found worthy by the grace and mercy of our Savior, now and in the world to come. Amen.

CHAPTER XXX. Quod sollicitudo impedit quietem.

A person of many anxieties cannot be meek and quiet, because the causes of the things in which he studies necessarily compel him, reluctant and resisting, to dwell in them, and they destroy tranquility and quietness. It is fitting, therefore, for one to place himself in opposition to the face of God, and to extend his vision to him, if he wishes truly to guard his mind and to cleanse the wicked impulses that sprout within it, as well as to learn, with the tranquility of thoughts, to discern what enters and what goes out; for many occupations are a proof of the laxity of the monk against the working of the commandments of Christ, and a manifestation of his failings in divine matters. Unless you are without anxiety, do not seek the light in your soul, nor tranquility or quietness while senses remain loose, or wherever an occupation of things remains. Do not multiply occupations for yourself, or you will not find stirrings in your prayer. For without assiduous prayer you cannot approach God: yet after the labor of prayer, if another anxiety is brought upon the mind, it will work dispersion within it: tears and the striking of the head in prayer, and also the will on the ground with fervor, awaken the warmth of his sweetness within the heart, and with a laudable ecstasy of the mind the heart flies ^A to God and cries out: "My soul has thirsted for God, the living fountain; when shall I come and appear before the face of God?" (Ps. XLI, 3). He who has drunk of this wine, and is afterwards deprived of it, he alone knows how great is the misery by which he is occupied, and what has been taken away from him because of his own laxity.

Oh, how evil a thing for men is sight and speech, for all those who truly converse in solitude, much more than for those who are bound away from solitude! For just as a violent frost suddenly falling upon the tops of plants dries them up, so do the conversations of men, even if they are entirely brief, and are thought to be spoken for good, nevertheless dry up the flowers of virtues, which have newly blossomed from the temperance of solitude; which also surround with simplicity and rashness the plant of the soul, which is planted beside the streams of the waters of repentance. And just as a violent frost catching the new shoots of plants burns them, so too does the conversation of men burn the roots of virtues, which begin to sprout like pastures. But if the conversation of those who are in part abstinent, but in part suffer some defect, is accustomed to bring loss to the soul; how much more the conversation and sight of laymen and fools, not to mention worldly people? For just as a noble and venerable man, when he is made drunk, forgets his own will, and his status is dishonored, and his preciousness is mocked on account of the alien thoughts that have come upon him by the power of wine, so too is the chastity of the soul disturbed ^B by sight and incautious speech, and every support of its laudable status is eradicated.

If, therefore, conversation and delay and dispersion coming upon one dwelling in solitude, or their very nearness in seeing and hearing, are sufficient to bring to the mind disturbance and a cooling in divine matters on account of the many things that happen from sight and hearing, and they do this in a brief hour: what shall we say of their continuous meeting and of the many and long hours in the same? The intemperance of the belly clouds the mind in the knowledge of God, just as the vapor that is produced from the humidity of the earth, rising up, renders the air dark. Pride, however, does not consider that it walks in darkness, because, on account of the aforementioned darkening, not knowing the intention of wisdom, it is ^D puffed up above all things, though it is the lowest of all, and cannot learn the ways of God. For even the Lord hides his will from it, which would not walk in the way of the humble.

Chapter 31. That there is no greater work for monks than nocturnal vigils with discernment.

Do not think, O man, that among all the operations of monks there is any other, however holy the manner of life, that is greater than noctural vigils. In truth, brothers, if there is not made religion, satiety, dispersion, and disturbance in carnal things in the anxiety of temporalities:

^A if one has guarded himself from the world, and his mind has kept itself in vigils, it flies in a short time as if with wings and is exalted into the love of God, and quickly arrives at glory. For it passes through its own lightness and agility to knowledge which surpasses human intellect. Do not regard the monk who perseveres in vigils with the discretion of the mind as one who burns with the flesh. This is indeed a work of the angelic order, not human. It is impossible, however, that God should dismiss those who are always occupied in such continence without great goods, on account of their fasting and the vigilance of the heart. But on account of the anxious manner of life of their thoughts within him, the soul that labors and perseveres in such a manner of life of vigils will have its eyes like the Cherubim, with which it may always behold and look upon the celestial contemplation. I for my part think it impossible that he who with knowledge and discipline has chosen for himself this great and divine labor, and has deemed it worthy to carry its burden, and studiously labors in this glorious part which he has chosen, and in the day guards himself from the disturbance of conversations and the anxiety of conflicts, should be found naked and foolish, bereft of the admirable fructification of that great love, which waits to be gathered by him. Whoever, however, neglects this, I presume to say that he is ignorant of what he labors for and why he abstains from sleep, and in much collation of praises, and fatigue of tongue, and standing upright he is totally afflicted, not having his mind in his prayer and in his chant, but is as if led by custom indiscrimately. And if these things are not as I have said, how would he fail to earn, from his continuous sowing in labor, the greatest fruits? For if in place of anxieties he excites himself in the reading of Divine Scripture which strengthens the mind, since prayer is the greatest fortitude, and in vigils to which it is joined it provides help, there is made for him the light of the mind, and discernment in the straight path, and fertile matter in the contemplation 24 of prayer which binds the mind from dispersion, lest it be shaken in vanities; it will also become for him an unfailing sower of divine remembrance in the soul, and of the commemoration of the ways of the saints, both male and female, who pleased God, and it will make the mind acquire subtlety and wisdom: he would indeed have found the mature fruit of such operations.

Why then, O man, art thou indiscreet in thy arrangements, since thou leadest the whole night ^B vigilantly, standing upright, and thou afflictest thyself with prayers and praises—whereas it seems to thee no small burden to earn divine grace for thyself through a brief care in the day, lest someone perchance be saddened on thy account? Why dost thou afflict thyself, and by night indeed thou sowest, but by day thou scatterest thy labor, and art seen as unfruitful? Why dost thou scatter the vigilance and study and heat which thou hadst attained, and lose in vain the gain on account of the turbulent course of things? For if thou shouldst make thy works concordant with thy nightly meditation, and not apply thy mind to doctrines in the midst of sleep; in a short time thou wouldst surely embrace (40) the bosom of Jesus. But from this it is manifest that thou conversest indiscreetly, nor dost thou know how monks ought to watch. For thou thinkest that all these things are established for this alone, that thou mightest labor, and for no other thing that might arise from them. But they who have deserved it from grace, for which athletes often resist sleep, and inflict violence upon nature both through the violence of their bodies and of their thoughts; to whom they offer prayers on individual nights, He alone knows the virtue which is made from daily custody, and what help it provides to the mind in the quiet of the night, and what power it confers upon itself against thoughts, and what purity, and what intelligence without ^C fight and violence it bestows upon him, and that it makes him understand nobility with liberty of speech.

I also say that if the body should have been weary on account of its infirmity, so that he cannot fast, the mind can acquire the state of the soul through vigils alone, and provide understanding to the heart; let it learn spiritual virtue, provided that there is not made for him an extermination from the dilatation of divine causes. Whence I ask thee, who desirest to attain a mind studious before God and the knowledge of a new life, for the whole time of thy life do not neglect the manner of life of vigils, because through it eyes are opened to look upon the whole glory of the manner of life and the virtue of the way of justice. But if there should happen to thee (which God forbid!) a thought of relaxation again, and it has nested in thee perhaps on account of the probation of thy protector, who from custom permits thee to be altered in such a manner, whether in heat or also in cooling, or from some cause or infirmity of the body, so that thou canst not perform the labor of much chanting which thou wert accustomed to sing, and of the extended prayer and many genuflexions which thou wert accustomed to make. I ask in charity, if thou ^D hast been abandoned in such things, nor canst perform the same; at least watch sitting, nor sleep in thy heart, and with all ingenuity draw out the night sitting, and thinking good thoughts; and do not harden thy heart and darken it in sleep, because that first heat and lenity and virtue will come to thee again, and exulting thou wilt rejoice, and wilt render thanks to God. For cooling and such heaviness are permitted for the examination and probation of man; and if he has excited himself with fervor, and has shaken them off from himself, pressing a little importunately, immediately grace approaches as it was, and there approaches to him another virtue containing every good hidden in itself, and also the hope of protection; and man admires, stupefied at the first heaviness and at the supervening lenity and virtue: and also because he received such an alteration so suddenly; and from then on he is instructed, that if such heaviness should come to him, he may recognize it from his first experience. For if in the first time he has not struggled, he cannot receive nor have this knowledge.

^A You see to what extent a man is instructed when he compels himself a little and endures during the time of conflict. If the strength of the body is weakened, not from conflict, but from the infirmity of necessity, then it is not fitting to war against nature. In other matters, however, it is good that one should press himself importunately in all things that are profitable to him. For the continuous quietude of conscience and the moderate consumption of food with vigils quickly awaken the mind from the stupefaction of worldly things, unless by chance some cause arises that breaks the quietude; but the thoughts that are stirred in the solitary suddenly, without consent, make both eyes like a fountain of a bath in an outpouring of tears, and wash the cheeks with their multitude. But when your body has been tamed by abstinence and by the studious guarding of quietude, and ^B you perceive that your body is being moved by a violent passion of fornication, and it presents a natural motion, know that you are being tempted by thoughts of pride. Apply yourself, therefore; inquire into your food and restrain your belly, and examine what you are contemplating, and add to it a change in your nature and to your natural works; and perhaps God will have mercy on you and send you light, so that you may add to your humility, lest your wickedness be increased. Let us not, therefore, cease from laboring and studying, so that we may see penitence in ourselves, and find humility, and our hearts may rest in God: to whom be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

CHAPTER XXXII.

That a man ought first to meditate upon the causes of compunction and future joys.

If you dwell alone in your cell, meditate always upon the psalms and the causes of compunction, and upon the memory of death and the hope of things to come, if you have not yet attained true contemplation. For these gather the mind and do not permit it to wander until true contemplation comes; for the power of the Spirit is stronger than the vices. Meditate also upon the hope of things to come with the remembrance of God, and consider diligently the understanding of the things aforesaid, and beware yourself of external things that move you to concupiscence; and from the base things that you do in your cell, guard yourself as from them, and search your thoughts, and pray that you may acquire eyes in all your conversation, and from thence joy begins to arise; for then you will find tribulations sweeter than honey. No one can overcome vices except through sensible and visible virtues. No one can overcome the dispersion of the mind except in the exercise of spiritual knowledge. Our mind is light: unless it is bound to some thought, it does not cease from dispersion; and without the perfection of virtues, it is impossible to attain this virtue, unless one has conquered the enemies; he cannot dwell in peace. And if peace does not reign, how can he find those things which are against peace? For the vices of the devil have hidden the virtue of the soul, and unless they are first demolished by manifest virtues, ^C they cannot see those things that are within; just as no one existing outside a wall can converse with those who are inside: nor can anyone see the sun 25 under a cloud, nor the virtues of the soul while the turbulence of the vices still remains. Pray to God that He may grant you to feel the affection of the Spirit and the desire for Him. And when this sensuality and desire of the Spirit comes to you, then you ought to depart from the world, and the world will depart from you; for without these, no one can feel quietude, religion, and the discourse of reading set apart for this, and without these, do not seek them: but if you should seek them, they will turn afterward and become bodily; let him who understands, understand. It has pleased the wise God that bread should be eaten here in sweat; nor did He do this out of malice, but so that it might not become indigestion for us and we might die: every virtue is the mother of the second. If you dismiss the mother who gives birth to virtues and go away to seek the daughters, and do not first acquire their mother, they will be found by the soul like vipers, if you do not cast them away from you.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

Signs of charity.

The charity of God is naturally warm, and when it falls upon someone, it makes that soul, which is excessive, moderate, because it perceives that it has taken charity into itself and to dwell there. According to the measure of the quality supervening upon it, a strange change of charity appears in the same, and these are its sensible signs. The face of the man becomes ruddy, joyful, his body ^D is warmed, fear and shame depart from him, and he becomes excessive; and the virtue that cultivates the mind departs from it, and it becomes as if insane, and considers terrible death as joy. Nor has his contemplation fallen from the consideration of heavenly things, and he speaks to the absent as if they were present, not seen by anyone. His natural knowledge and vision pass away, nor does he perceive in a sensible way the motion that is in his affairs; and he is exercised as if he were with someone. By this passion the apostles and martyrs were intoxicated, and some of them destroyed the whole world, and labored, and endured reproaches; and in the same way the martyrs with them also wandered in deserts, and in composed irregularities; and when they were wise, they were accounted insane: to this insanity may God deign that we arrive. Amen.

Before you have arrived at the city of humility, if you see yourself as one who has rested from the infestation of vices, do not believe in yourself. The enemy will set certain snares for you, and expect much turbulence after the quiet; but after you have passed through the inns of virtues, you do not encounter 42 quiet from your fatigue, nor from the adversaries a breathing space, until you can arrive at the dwelling place of humility.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

On spontaneous tribulation for one's neighbor.

in perception, the tasting of the secrets of God, which is called the first order of the knowledge of the spirit. Let no one deceive you with the phantasm of divination, for which the soul might see. For an infected soul does not ascend to the kingdom of the world, nor is it joined to the spirits of the saints. Clarify the beauty of your chastity with tears, fastings, and solitary quietude: a small tribulation borne for God is better than a great work accomplished without tribulation. For spontaneous tribulation makes the proof of faith and charity arise; the work of quietude is born from the satisfaction of the conscience. And therefore the saints were proven in tribulations for the charity of ^A Christ, but not in comforts; since the work that is done without labor is the justice of secular persons who perform alms from external things, nor do they profit in themselves. But you, O striver or follower of passion, study within yourself so that you may become worthy to taste His glory: *For if we suffer with Him, we shall also be glorified with Him* (Rom. VIII, 17); that is, the mind is not glorified with Jesus unless the body suffers with Christ: therefore, he who despises human glory is the one who becomes worthy of the glory of God, and his body shall be glorified with the soul. For the glory of the body is the subjection of chastity to God. But the glory of the mind is the true contemplation of God. Renunciation indeed is twofold, in deeds and in reproaches; for as the body suffers, the heart should also suffer with it. But if you do not know God, it is impossible for His charity to be moved in you, nor can you love God unless you see Him: for the vision of God is the kingdom of the mind; nor is the mind subjected to ^B God, unless the freedom of the will is subjected: yet it is difficult for certain other things to be shown to him who is a novice and in the state of childhood. It is written indeed: *Woe to the city whose king is a child or too young* (Eccle. X, 16). Whoever has subjected himself for God, it is near that he will be subjected to himself. He who knows himself, the knowledge of all things is given to him: for the knowledge of oneself is the fullness of the knowledge of all things, and in the subjection of one’s soul all things are subjected to him. At the time when humility reigns in your soul, and in your conversation your soul is subjected, and with it all things shall be subjected: because peace is begotten in your heart from God. When you are outside of Him, you are persecuted not only by vices, but also by those things that approach. Truly, Lord, unless we have been humbled, You do not cease to humble us. True humility is the germ of knowledge, and true knowledge is the offspring of temptations.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

On continuous silence and quietude.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

On the movement of the flesh.

^A to oblivion those things which were naturally implanted by God for the procreation of children and for the testing of those who are in the struggle. But the distancing of things mortifies concupiscence in the members, and works oblivion and destruction within them. There are other thoughts of things far distant, which have simply passed through the mind, and cause from themselves only a small and slight movement; and there are other thoughts, which submerge the mind in the vision of matter without oblivion, and from proximity stir up vices and nourish man, just as oil nourishes the lighting of a lamp, and they ignite the vice that is dead and extinguished, and disturb the sea of the body through movements in the little boat of the mind. However, this natural movement which dwells in us, because of creation alone without any addition or external operation, cannot disturb the purity of the will's chastity. For God did not plant in nature the power to overcome the good will which someone has towards Him; but when someone is moved either by anger or by desire, nature or virtue does not compel him to go outside the limits of his nature and become something other than what is owed, but this is the addition which we make over and above nature through the actions of the will. For God made all things whatsoever he made, well and in measure; and as much as we rightly preserve the measure of proportion of natural things in us, so much the natural movement is unable to compel us to turn away from the way of God, but only tempers it. Through these movements the body is moved; so that we may know only that there is in us a natural passion, not for tickling and infesting [us] so that charity is impeded, or for darkening the mind from fervor and moving it from the path to peace. But if we have been attracted by sensual things through which indignation is accustomed to make an attack against nature, whether in eating or in drinking, or in an overabundance of quantity, or in the proximity of women, and the kindling of them through sight or conversations which happen against them, from which the flame of concupiscence is ignited and it exults in the body, let us commit [to memory] even the ferocity [flowing] thence, the natural dwelling, whether because of the abundance of temperament or because of the intrusive sight of things. Sometimes there is a movement of them from a mixing which happens according to our opinion, chastely, and it is not like that [other kind]: let us call those the battles of liberty, which are of common nature; but the battle that happens from a promise, which happens from a cause of nature: of [this] opinion we know that we have been made so through labors and caution over much time, and we imagine we have done something, and we are permitted to be attacked, so that we may learn humility. But the remaining battles, which for this reason happen to us beyond our strength, happen from our time, which nature, through some opposition, received as material through gluttony, and it does not rest. ^B Then in the order of its first molding. For he who has laid aside disturbances and recreations is compelled, even if unwilling, to love sin; for without these we cannot recede from the blandishments of sensuality. The more one's sorrows are multiplied, the more these things are diminished. Since disturbances and dangers kill the desire for vices: whereas quiet nourishes and increases it. Therefore it is clearly known that God and his angels are in quiet; but if the commandments of God are perfected in tribulations and straits, we, because we contemn these, contemn even Him who commanded [them] as we devise [excuses] because of the vices which are born from quiet, and we vacate the cause of virtue, namely tribulation and straits. For in as much as a measure of quiet is induced in us, in so much do we provide a place for vices in us, because in an afflicted body thoughts cannot be agitated in vanities. When, however, someone in joy sustains tribulations and labors, he can certainly restrain his thoughts powerfully, because the thoughts themselves cease in fatigue. When, however, a man has been mindful of his own sins, and has crucified himself, then even God takes care to make him quiet; and God rejoices from the fact that he himself has inflicted upon himself a punishment for the transgression of the way of God; which surely exists as a sign of true repentance: and the more he himself has done penance for his soul, the more his reward is multiplied by God. Every joy, however, which does not have its cause from virtue, immediately excites the movement of concupiscence in its inventor. Understand these things indeed concerning every vicious concupiscence. For we do not say this concerning natural concupiscence.

CHAPTER XXXVIII. That the virtues succeed one another.

of those things cause such pain to a man even without the things themselves, what are we to say of the approaching essence? The withdrawal is therefore good: for indeed it operates mightily when it softens thoughts in a manly fashion and imposes power in exercise, and likewise imposes great patience upon a man in the trials that necessarily supervene upon him, from which it is to be asked for counsel.

CHAPTER XXXIX. That a man should not seek counsel from a stranger.

Do not seek counsel from someone who is not of your own way of life, even if he should be very wise; and commit your thoughts rather to one who is unlearned in the experience of factual reality than to an eloquent philosopher who speaks about investigation without experience of the facts. What, then, is experience of facts? Experience is not that someone enters into and perceives things—not yet having taken possession of the recognition of them within himself—but that he receives the utility and the injury of those things operatively, through the time he has spent in them. Just as it often seems that a thing is an injury, and its habit is found to be a reward filled with utility, so too in the intellect, and in the contrary of this, namely, to see that things which seem to have utility are filled with the habit of injury. Hence many men discover injury from things which seem profitable, and no true testimony of knowledge from them exists. Use that counselor, therefore, who knows how to prove things in the patience of discretion; for this reason, not just anyone is trustworthy to give counsel, unless he has first governed his own will well and fears neither actors nor detractors.

CHAPTER XL. That the more a man progresses by vigils, the greater are the temptations he has.

When you have found unalterable peace on your path, then fear, because it is far removed from the straight path which is trodden by the laborious feet of the saints. For the further you progress on the way of the city of the King, and the nearer you approach the city, let this be a sign to you: the strength of temptations will encounter you; and the more you progress, so much the more are temptations multiplied against you. But when you have perceived another high degree in your soul, receive it in secret, and grace is added to the state in which you were standing. For according to the magnitude of the grace, to that extent does God bring the soul into the trial of temptations—not into secular temptations, which are done to restrain malice; and do not understand these to be manifest things or bodily disturbances, but temptations suitable to monks in their solitude, which we shall distinguish later. But if the soul has infirmity and is not sufficient for great temptations, let it ask not to enter into them, and God will hear it. Know truly that just as much as it is insufficient for great temptations, it is also insufficient for great charisms; and just as the onset of great temptations is hindered in it, so are great charisms hindered in it: for God does not give great charisms without great temptations. For temptations are numbered according to the charisms by God according to His wisdom, for those who were created by Him do not comprehend. Therefore, from the difficult tribulations that befall you by divine dispensation, you comprehend how much consolation your soul has received from its magnitude. For according to the sadness, so is the consolation.

What, therefore, is first: temptation and then charism, or is charism first and then temptation comes to be? The answer: Temptation does not come unless your soul first receives, in secret, even the magnitude beyond its first measure and the spirit of grace, since it receives first and the temptation of God testifies to it: similarly also with the temptations of the apostles. For they were not permitted to enter into temptations until they had received the Paraclete. For since they were communicating in good things, it was fitting for them to sustain their temptations; for after the good comes its tribulation. For so it pleased the wise God to do in all things; and in this He knows that grace is prior to temptation; yet the sensuality of temptations preceded the sensuality of grace for the sake of the probation of liberty. For does grace accrue to anyone before he tastes temptation? Grace also precedes the mind, yet it is delayed in sensuality: whence it befits us to have in these times of temptation certain two things contrary to each other, and in no way similar. These, however, are joy and fear. Joy, indeed, because we are on the path which the saints have trodden; nay rather, the Vivifier is found to walk in it: and this is manifest from the recognition of temptations. But we ought to have fear, lest by chance we be tempted on account of pride. In these things, however, the humble are instructed by grace, so that they may be able to discern this, and to know what is the temptation that comes from the fruit of pride, and what is that which comes from the blows of those who are beaten by charity: for the temptations which are from the endeavor and increase of the conversation in good, and the temptations of the promise, which are better for the chastisement or tasting on account of the pride of the heart, are distinguished from one another.

CHAPTER XLI. What are the temptations by which the soul progresses.

The temptations which come from the spiritual rod for the progress and growth of the soul, in which the soul is exercised and proved and cleansed, are these. Sloth, heaviness of the body, dislocation of the limbs, acedia, confusion of mind, bodily pains, loss of hope for an hour, darkening of thoughts, lack of human aid for an hour, indigence of bodily use, and things similar to these. From these temptations a man acquires a solitary soul, and protection of self, and humility, and the heart

that is contrite; and from these it is proven who comes to desire for the Creator. These things, however, the Dispenser arranges according to the possibility and according to the necessity of the wise. With these, consolation is tempered, and the light of adversity, and darkness, battles and aversions: and to say it briefly, being pressed by this and that is a sign of a man’s progress through assistance. ^A Therefore, the temptations which come from the promise of God against the imprudent, and those who exalt themselves in their minds before the goodness of God in their pride: these are the manifest temptations of demons, which are beyond the power of the soul, a defect of the virtues of wisdom, which are in them, the acute sensuality of the intention to commit fornication, which is permitted against them for the humility of their elation: to be angered quickly, to wish to settle and to despise, a total error of the mind, blasphemy against the name of God, foolish intentions full of laughter, indeed of weeping; to be despised by all, the destruction of one's honor, to become a confusion and reproach in many ways by the demons in secret, and manifestly the desire to mingle and converse in the world, to speak and babble always foolishly, to invent for oneself a renovation, always with false prophecy promising many things beyond one's power—these indeed are of the soul. In bodily matters, however, painful events occur: remaining always perplexed, and with difficulty resolvable encounters of evils, always both of wicked men, to fall into the hands of men who cause tribulation in the leisure of the heart, always without cause, and by sudden fear being prepared many times for great threats from stones and high places and things similar to these, which happen even with the breaking of the body. Lastly, a lack of wisdom by our heart ^C from divine virtue and the hope of its faith; and, to speak quickly, as many as are impossible and beyond one's strength, they are brought upon it. Now, as many as we have noted and determined above, these are the temptations of the demon of pride: for the beginning appears in a man when one begins to consider oneself wise in one's own eyes, and thus is transformed in all evils, according to the measure of the reception of such thoughts of pride; therefore, from the species of your thoughts, understand the way of the subtlety of your mind. But if you see some of these temptations mingled with other temptations which were spoken of above, know that as much as you have of these, by that much does pride happen to you or lie upon you.

CHAPTER XLII. That the patience of man repels adversities.

The mind which does not participate in adversities and tribulations has a double torment of patience. For the patience of man repels his adversities. For pusillanimity ^D is the mother of torture. But patience is the mother of consolation. And it is a certain virtue which has its origin from the breadth of the heart; which virtue it is difficult for a man to find in his tribulations without a divine charism, which is found through the perseverance of prayer and the shedding of tears.

CHAPTER XLIII. On pusillanimity.

When God wills one to be troubled more amply, He also permits one to come into the hands of pusillanimity. But this prepares within him the power of acedia, in which he tastes the suffocation of the soul, which is the tasting of Gehenna, and from this is superinduced a spirit of excess from which are born many temptations, namely confusion, fury, blasphemy, foolish culpability, perverse thoughts, and migration from land to land, and things similar to these. But if you say, What is the cause of these things? I say to you, it is your Negligence, because you have not cared for the medicine for them: for there is one medicine for them all, through which one immediately finds consolations in the soul: this is the humility of the heart; and beyond this, no one will be able to destroy the end of these evils, nay rather, he finds him under power against him. Do not be indignant against me, because I speak to you the truth; you have never sought it with your whole soul: if you wish to know the same, place yourself in its region, and you will see how it will give to your malice. For according to the measure of your humility, patience is also given to you in your adversities; and according to your patience, the gravity of your tribulation is alleviated, and you will obtain consolation. But according to your consolation, your love towards God is magnified, and according to your love, joy in the Holy Spirit is magnified. But from those who are truly sons, the merciful Father, when it pleases Him to perform the effect of these temptations, does not remove the temptations themselves from their action, but provides them with patience in them, and He receives all these good things and their patience for the perfection of their souls. May Christ therefore make us worthy, in His grace, of sustaining evils with His love, and with the regeneration of the heart. Amen.

CHAPTER XLIV. On bodily virtue and spiritual virtue, how they purge man.

Bodily virtue in solitude cleanses the body from the filth which is in it; but the virtue of the mind humbles the soul and purges it from gross and pernicious intellects, so that it may move rather in its contemplation. But this contemplation makes it approach the nakedness of the mind, which is called immaterial contemplation. And this is spiritual virtue; for this exalts the soul from earthly things, and makes it approach the first contemplation of the spirit, and establishes the mind before God for the contemplation of ineffable glory, which is the movement of the intellects of His majesty, and separates it from this world and its sensuality; and from this, we are certified regarding that hope deposited for us, and we arrive at the certainty of that order; and this perseverance is the certification, of which the Apostle speaks: perseverance is certification, in which the mind rejoices intelligibly, namely in the hope promised to us. But what these things are, and how each one of them is, hear. Conver-

sation that is according to the body, he calls those bodily works which are done from the amendment of the flesh in the action of virtue through works manifest in themselves, in which they are purged from the uncleanness of the flesh. The ^A conversation of the mind, however, is the operation of the heart which is done incessantly in the solitude of judgment, namely of justice and His judgments, the unceasing prayer of the heart, the consideration of the dispensation and care of God in this world, likewise done spiritually and totally, and also the guarding against gathered vices; so that nothing of them might occur in the hidden and spiritual region: this is the work of the heart, which he calls the conversation of the soul.

CHAPTER XLV. Of the contemplation of material things.

In the work of conversation which is called the act of the soul, the heart is humbled, and is separated from the communion of the confused life which is against the creature. From these, one begins sometimes to move toward understanding and gazing ^B in the contemplation of natural things which were created for the use and increase of the body, and how in the service of these, power is given to the four elements, which are in action or in the body.

CHAPTER XLVI. Of spiritual conversation.

Spiritual conversation is also an action without the senses, and this is what the Fathers described; when the minds of the saints receive it, the substantial aspect and the fatness of the body are removed, and then the aspect becomes intelligible. He calls the substantial aspect the prayer of the first nature, and from this substantial aspect he then easily transcends to the recognition of solitary conversation, which is in the manifest exposition of the mercies of the Lord. This is the great state of future goods, which is given in freedom in the life of mortals, in the conversation which is after the resurrection, which does not cease in human nature to wonder at God, nor does it consider at all anything about creatures: for if there were anything substantial to God, the mind would certainly have had a memory of it. But if all the beauty of those things which will come to pass in the future resurrection is inferior to His beauty, how can anyone go out in his aspect beyond the beauty of God? Why then does death sadden him, or the heaviness of the flesh or the memory of his kinsfolk, or the necessity of nature and diversity or contrariety or unknown exultation, or the imperfection of nature, or the encompassing of the elements, or speech with someone, or most laborious sloth, or the anxiety of the flesh? But these things, although they may happen in this world, and in that time ^C when the veil of vices shall have been taken away from the eyes of the mind, and they shall have peered at that glory, the mind is immediately raised in stupefaction: and unless it be that terminus which God has placed in this life, during the whole life of man it was promised, he would not have to depart from the contemplation of them; and how much rather do we show it, where all these things are not? That virtue, however, is indefinite, and we shall be in the same things substantially within the imperial halls, if we shall have been worthy for our conversation. How therefore can anyone depart so far and be elongated from that wonderful and divine contemplation and fall into another thing? Woe to us! because we do not know our own, nor to what conversation we have been called: but we think that the way of this infirmity, and the state of life and the tribulations of the world and the world itself and its malice, and its rests, are something.

But, O Christ, who alone art powerful, whose reception is with Thee, and who hast disposed ascensions in Thy heart, do Thou, O Lord, turn our faces away from worldly things into Thy desire, until we see Him as He is, nor believe malice as truth, nor be incredulous to truth as we are to a shadow. Renew anxiety in the mind before death, that in the hour of our departure we may know how our goings-in and goings-out are in this world, until we shall have finished the work to which we have been called according to Thy will in this life first: afterwards we shall overcome in a mind filled with confidence to receive the great things according to the promise of the Scriptures, which Thy charity hath prepared in the second renovation, the memory of which is preserved in the faith of ^D secrets.

CHAPTER XLVII. Of the purity of body and soul.

The purity of the body is holiness from the pollution of the flesh; the purity of the soul, however, is liberation from the hidden passions which stand in the mind. The purity of the mind, too, is in the revelation of secrets: for it is purged from all the accidents of the senses in the world of their fatness. For even small infants are pure in heart and innocent in soul, and no one calls them pure in mind. For the purity of the mind is perfection in heavenly conversation, namely in the contemplation which is moved from sense into the spiritual power of innumerable, lofty worlds, whose conversation is divided from one another by the subtle and invisible mystery of them existing in the intention of divine revelations and of their opposites at every hour. May our God Himself make us always see Him in the nakedness of the mind, and afterwards immediately in the Holy Spirit: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

CHAPTER XLVIII. Of the door of secrets.

Faith is the door of secrets. For just as bodily eyes, in substantial things, thus

is faith, a treasure for the hidden and intelligible eyes. We have two eyes of the soul, as the Fathers say, like the two eyes of the body; and the mode of sight is not the same in both. For with one eye we contemplate the hidden things of the glory of God, which are hidden in nature: namely, His power, His wisdom, and the coeternal dispensation of the same concerning us, which is comprehended through the magnitude of His governance ^A among us; and with this eye we see the heavenly orders as our fellow servants. With the other eye we contemplate the glory of His holy nature, that is, of God Himself, when it pleases God to lead us into spiritual secrets and to open the sea of faith in our mind. Grace upon grace has been given to men; for penitence is the second regeneration from God, and the pledge which we have received by faith, we have received by penitence as its gift. Penitence is the door of mercy, which is open to those who pursue it. Through this door we enter into the divine mercy, and without that entry we do not find mercy; for all have sinned, according to the divine Scripture, being justified freely by His grace: and it arises in the heart from faith and fear. Fear, however, is a spiritual staff, guiding us until we arrive at the spiritual paradise of good things; and when we reach it, it lets us go so that we may return. The paradise is the charity of God, in which is the delight of all beatitudes, where blessed Paul was nourished with food above nature: from which ^B he tasted of the tree of life, and cried out saying: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it ascended into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love Him (I Cor. II, 9).

From this good was Adam prohibited, not by the counsel of the devil. The tree of life is charity, from which Adam fell, and no further did joy occur to him, but he works and labors in the land of thorns. Those who are separated from the charity of God eat the bread of sweat in their works, although they walk in uprightness, which the protoplast was seen to eat after the fall. Until we find charity, our operation is in the land of thorns, and among thorns we sow and reap, although our seed was the seed of justice, and at every hour we are stung by them; and however much we are justified, we live in the sweat of our brow; and when we find charity, we feed on the heavenly bread and are strengthened without work and labor. The heavenly bread is Christ, who descended from heaven and gives life to the world (Joan. VI, 33). This is the food of the angels. Whoever finds charity eats Christ at every hour, and becomes immortal. For He says: He who eats the bread that I shall give him shall not taste of death, but will live forever (ibid. 52). Blessed, however, is he who eats of the bread of charity, which is Christ: for he eats Christ who is the God of all. And the blessed John testifies, saying: God is charity (I Joan. IV, 8). Therefore ^C he who lives in charity bears fruit from God and, existing in this world, scents that air of the resurrection; for thus does the just man delight in it in the resurrection. Charity is the kingdom which God permitted (48) the apostles to eat of fittingly or figuratively in His kingdom. For what shall you eat and drink at the table of my kingdom? For charity is sufficient to nourish man instead of food and drink: this is the wine which gladdens the heart of man. Blessed is he who drinks of this wine: out of it the unchaste have drunk, and have become chaste; and the drunkards, and they have become fasting, or rather fasters; and the sinners, and they have forgotten the ways of offenses; and the rich, and they have affected poverty; and the poor, and they have been enriched with hope; and the frail, and they have become robust; and the ignorant, and they have become wise. Just as it is impossible to cross a great sea without a ship or vessel, so no one can cross over to charity without fear. You will understand the stinking sea which is set between us and charity. We can cross the paradise with the vessel of penitence, having fear as our rower; but if these rowers of fear do not guide this ship of penitence with which we cross the sea of this world to God, we are submerged in the stinking sea. Penitence is the ship, fear indeed is its rower, and charity is the divine port: therefore fear makes us sit in the ship of penitence, and transports us across the stinking sea of the world, and leads us to the divine port which is charity, to which all look who labor and are afflicted in penitence. And when we have arrived at charity, we have arrived at God, and our way is completed; and from there we cross the island which is beyond the world, where the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit makes us worthy of His glory and charity through fear: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

CHAPTER XLIX. Regarding the twofold knowledge, namely, the natural, and that which is by faith, and regarding the measure of each.

There is knowledge preceding belief, and knowledge which is born from belief. Indeed, knowledge precedes belief in natural things; but the knowledge which is born from belief is spiritual knowledge. Natural knowledge is that which discerns good from evil, and is called natural discretion, in which we know the good, and discern the good from evil. God placed this in natural nature without instruction, and from instruction it received an increment and growth, nor is there anyone who does not have this. Now this virtue of natural discretion is of the good and of the evil which are moved incessantly in it; and those who ^D are deprived of it subsist below natural nature; and those who have it in natural motion, consist rightly, nor do they have any confusion in those things which God has contributed to nature for the honor of its natural qualities. But those who have lost this knowledge which...

distinguishes good from evil, and among those who have lost it, he has likened to senseless beasts having neither reason nor discretion. In this it is impossible to find the way of God and of natural knowledge; and this precedes faith. This also is a guide to God, because therein we know good from evil. That it behooves man to believe in Him who leads to the Creator surely testifies to the reception of this faith, as does the very power of nature. All these things, both to believe ^A in the words of His commandments and to do those things which are born from that faith.

But natural knowledge, which is the discernment of good and evil, which is placed in nature by God, does not suggest to us what we ought to believe concerning God who produces all things. And faith produces fear in us; and fear compels us to repent and to act; and God is the giver of spiritual knowledge to men, which is the perception of secrets, which brings forth the faith of true contemplation. We have said, and not simply, that naked spiritual knowledge is born from faith alone, as the holy John Chrysostom said. For when someone has acquired the will to follow the fear of God and secret prudence, he quickly receives the revelation of secrets, that is, the spiritual knowledge of man. But the fear of God begets this spiritual knowledge: for in nature there is no addition, it cannot be born: but this knowledge happens as an accident, while the work is done in the fear of God; ^B and you find that repentance and this spiritual knowledge are the same. For this which we have said, of which we received the pledge in baptism, and indeed received repentance—its gift; and the gift also which we said we receive through repentance is this knowledge, namely, the spiritual gift, which is given through the efficacy of the fear of God.

CHAPTER L. On spiritual knowledge.

Spiritual knowledge is the perception of hidden things: and when someone assumes such invisible and very acute things, from these the name of spiritual knowledge is born in his perception, and another faith which is not contrary to the first, but certifying that faith which exists, and I have called it the faith of contemplation: as far as that, it is hearing, but sight is more certain than hearing. ^C Therefore, all these things are born from that knowledge distinguishing good from evil which is in nature, and it is the good seed of virtue, which has already been mentioned. But when we have revealed this natural knowledge in our voluptuous will, it exceeds all these goods: therefore there follows this knowledge a continuous knowledge, the memory of death, a certain indeficient solicitude, being a torment, until this departure: after this sadness and mourning, the fear of God; which is a sadness from nature in proportion to earlier sins.

^D These things are all found in natural knowledge: therefore let one make a comparison between his spiritual works and these; and when he has been found in them, let him walk in the natural way; and when he has been lifted up from these, and reaches charity, raising himself above nature, and the struggle and fear and labor and fatigue which consist in all things recede from him. These are the things which follow natural knowledge, and these same things we find in us when we reveal it by our voluptuous will; and in these gifts we arrive at charity, which frees us from all these things. Therefore, let one find consolation from the things said above, and let him examine himself in what he walks, whether in those things which are contrary to nature. From the methods perfectly stated above, one can quickly find the regimen of his whole way; and when he is not found in those things which we have distinguished as being according to nature, nor is he in those which are above, it is manifest that he is in those which are contrary to nature, having been exposed.

CHAPTER LI. On temptations.

For there is no good temptation which does not come from divine grace falling into the heart, nor is any evil thought near to the soul, unless for temptation and probation. The man who has arrived at the knowledge of the measure of his infirmity reaches the perfection of humility. He who brings the charisms of God to the man of the heart and who is moved to indeficient negation, who brings temptation to the soul, is the thought of murmuring which is always moved in the heart: God sustains all human infirmities, but He does not sustain the murmuring man unless He corrects him: for when the soul lacks every illumination of knowledge, it is found in such a temptation. But the mouth that always praises God receives a blessing from God, and persevering in acts of thanksgiving, he arrives at Him; grace precedes humility, and operation precedes thought. He who is proud is permitted to fall into blasphemy, and he who is lifted up concerning the operation of virtues, and who does not have God before his eyes, always thinks against God or against his neighbor; he is permitted to fall into fornication, and since he is lifted up in his wisdom, he will suffer the dark snares of ignorance. He who ignores every man through the memory of God finds help from every man in the hidden countenance of God. He who sets himself out for injury patiently will find God as his helper. He who accuses his brother out of malice will find God as his accuser. He who secretly corrects his neighbor perceives his malice. But he who accuses delinquencies in an assembly, wounds exa-

acerbat. He who secretly corrects his brother shows a spirit of charity; the friend who reproves in secret is a wise physician. Indulgence for debt is a sign of compassion, but to speak against one who has done wrong is a sign of evil operation. He who reproves for the sake of health corrects with charity; but he who seeks vengeance does so with a spirit devoid of charity. God corrects with charity, not out of vengeance, but seeking that His image be healed; He does not keep anger for all time. This manner of charity arises from righteousness, and does not decline into malicious communication. A wise just man is like unto God: he does not correct by avenging malice, but so that the one being corrected may be set straight, and that others may take heed. Correction is not unlike this correction. But he who, in the strength of his own knowledge, admiring himself in the contemplation of divine science, contemplates the magnitude of the flesh ^B in his questioning, fails to derive it from virtue and is lifted up in his own heart. He who directs his mind to the worthy retribution of God descends to the depth of humility in body and soul in his conversation; but when one close to knowledge is wholly lifted up by elevation, and however much he may be lifted up, the ascent of his knowledge is not perfected until the world of glory is sought for its own sake. As much as one progresses before God, so much will he adhere to His footsteps; and in the second age He will show him His face, not as it is: for the just, even in this age, see the faith of God as in a riddle, but in the future they contemplate the manifestation of truth.

Fire kindled in dry wood is extinguished with more difficulty. And the heat of God, which comes to pass and falls upon the heart that renounces the world, its ignition is not extinguished, and it is sharper than fire. Or wine, subjecting the members to all things, induces oblivion by its strength; and when the memory of God maintains its custom in the mind, it removes the memory of visible things from the heart. The mind that finds the wisdom of the spirit is like to him who finds a boat prepared for crossing; and when he sits in it, he crosses from the sea of the world and causes it to land upon the island of the future age: such is the sense of the future age in this world, like a small boat in the sea; and he who approaches it labors no further in the waves of the phantasy of this world. The merchant, his task finished, hastens to go to his home, and the monk, for the remainder of his life, desires the future age; for he has redeemed his time, and has received his pledge. As long as there is navigation in the sea, fear possesses his mind, lest peradventure waves rise against him and the hope of his operation be submerged. And the monk, as long as he is in the world, fear restrains his conversation, lest peradventure a winter rise up against him and he lose that which he has worked for.

Moreover, the merchant and the monk look to the hour of death; the sailor directs his ship with consideration; and the monk looks to prayer, because it corrects him- self and directs his way toward whichever port his conversation leads. The monk in the prayer which occurs through the hour, saw the island in which he will tie his boat, and from there crosses to another island. This is the way of the monk passing from knowledge and progressing in the study of knowledge, ^A lest he descend from the sea and fail to arrive through his own way at true holiness, in which those who dwell do not traffic anymore, but each one rests in his own delights. Blessed is the man whose way is not confounded in this great world, that is, in the great sea. With joy he swims to the port who swims naked, and is immersed in the sea, until he finds the pearl: and the wise monk walks naked in this life, until he finds for himself the pearl of monks, Jesus Christ; and when he has found Him, he no longer possesses any cavern with Him. The pearl is kept in the innermost parts: and the pleasure of the monk is kept within by quietude. In a congregation and multitude the virgin is stained: and the mind of the monk is violated by the speech of many.

A bird from every place runs to its nest, that it may feed its chicks; and the discreet monk hastens to his dwelling, that he may make the fruit of life in himself. When the serpent is touched, it guards its head with its whole body; and the monk, from every evil, guards his faith, which is the beginning of his life. A cloud covers the sun: and many words cover the soul that is beginning to be illuminated in the contemplation of prayer. The pelican, according to the sayings of the wise, then exults and rejoices, when it is in the desert: and our soul then receives heavenly joy, when it has moved itself away from ^B all, and going, dwells in a region of quiet, and expects the time of its departure. It is said of the Siren that, hearing the voice of her modulation, she forgets her own journey, and, caught by the sweetness of the song, falls and dies; so also the affair of the soul, when the sweetness of heavenly modulation of the words of God has arrived at it, which enter into the intellect with sense; so it has wholly departed after it, that it forgets this temporal life, and destroys the body with its delights, and is exalted to God from its life. A tree, unless it casts off its former leaves, does not produce fresh branches: and a monk, unless he first casts off from his heart the memory of former things, does not produce fresh branches and fruits in Christ Jesus. Fruit fattens the belly, and the solicitude of God is the fruit of the soul. A dog that licks ulcers drinks blood first, and does not feel the harm because of the sweetness that is for the hour: so also the monk, drinking vain glory, consumes his own life, and does not feel the harm, because of the sweetness that for the hour becomes secular glory.

CHAPTER LII. De abstinentia spirituali.

The Fathers said: Vices return into the gluttonous soul, which formerly had been subjected and expelled. A small cloud covers the disk of the sun, and the sun with the cloud warms much, and a little sadness covers the soul: if, however, its joy exists great, [it is through] the words of the mysteries of divine Scripture without petition and prayer and the help of God, do not approach, but say: Lord, give me the sense of virtue, and what is in it. Beware of an understanding of true words which are in

divine Scriptures, deem it to be prayer. When you wish to approach God with your heart, first manifest your labor in temporal things. For from these is the principle of conversion: for the heart approaches God greatly in the subtraction of necessity, in the abstinence from one special food, and it follows with works, and the Lord from this makes a foundation of humility. Consider idleness to be the principle of the darkening of the soul. There are, however, darkenings upon darkenings from the exchange of secular words, the first being the occasion of the second, and the second of the first. And useful words, when approved without measure, also cause darkening: for the soul is cheapened by a multitude of exchanges, even if its preparation is in the fear of God. The darkening of the soul comes from the disorder of its way of life, and time in a way of life illuminates the mind and expels confusion. Confusion of the mind, which is from disorder, causes a darkening in the soul, and darkening causes agitation. Peace comes from order, and light is born from peace in the soul, and from light and peace. The world enters the mind according to the measure of the heart’s approach to wisdom; thus does it receive grace from God. The discretion of wisdom is the occupation of the spirit with things beyond the world; just as you feel in your soul, because in wisdom the spirit keeps silence in the soul. But in the wisdom of the world, the source of occupation is act: after the discovery of the first wisdom, you will have filled yourself with much humility and meekness and peace reigning over all your thoughts; and your limbs will cease and rest from agitation and restlessness. But after the discovery of the second wisdom, that is, the worldly, you possess pride in your sense, and unclean, unspeakable thoughts, and agitation of the intellect, the domination and hardening of the senses, and levity. Do not think that a man who is bound to temporal things acts with confidence before God in prayer.

A fraudulent soul is defrauded of wisdom: but a merciful one is aided by wisdom and the spirit. As oil to the brightness of a lamp, so alms nourish the soul’s cognition. The key of the heart for divine gifts is given in the charity of our neighbors, and according to the measure of the heart’s release from the chains of the heart, the door of cognition is opened before it. The transit of the soul from the world into the world is the reception of the intellect. How beautiful and praiseworthy is the love of one’s neighbor, if his concern does not drag us away from the love of God. How fair is the spiritual exchange of our brothers, if we can keep, when he gives, the exchange of God. Therefore it is good ^A to be silent: let him prove the occasion of good operation or good work and conversion constantly toward God. For the confusion of the second is from the stability of the first. However, the mind does not suffice for two exchanges: it has only one interlocutor appointed and fearing God, and watching over himself; indeed, one existing in his tabernacle ^B, but rich in the ministries of God. The vision of secular things causes confusion for the soul, a thing indeed feigned for the sake of the work of God. Persistent speech of spiritual brothers is harmful, but the mere external vision of secular ones hinders bodily operation. He who wishes to reap joy from the part of the mind is in the operation of hidden things, and changes without vision disturb the rest of the heart: conversely, mortification is not strengthened upon the operation of the senses. Bodily way of life seeks the awakening of the senses: but the way of life of knowledge seeks the awakening of the heart. Just as in nature the soul is better than the body, and just as the formation precedes the animation, so also are bodily things before him the work of the soul. Great is the virtue, small the persevering way of life: it rolls the hard rock.

When the spiritual man begins to rise in you, let the mortification from men awaken in you, and let your soul burn with joy at the likeness of the supernal creation, and let not your thoughts be pacified for the sake of the delight of your heart. And when the world begins to rise in you, the occupation of your mind is multiplied, and worldly and disordered prudence: for I call "world" the vices which occupation has pastured; and when they have been conceived and perfected, sins are completed, and they kill the man. Thus there are no vices without the occupation of the mind, nor the consummation of sin without the multiloquence of vices. When patience has been multiplied in our souls, it is a sign that we have received in the occult the grace of consolation. The fortitude of patience is stronger than the passions falling in the body, which is life in God directed by the senses: but when the heart has lived, the senses fall. The resurrection of the senses is the mortification of the heart by God through virtues: when they are done without the man, the conscience does not receive rectitude. Virtue which works through others, which is to say, which has the power to cleanse the soul—for the work is estimated according to its reward—perfects virtue; both make for cleansing: for this reason, to be wise is sought first, and secondarily, beyond the concern which is left behind in this, the mind is made manifest to God; but the second place of the first is filled without its operation. Rest and idleness is the perdition of the soul, and a great one as the demons can harm. If you force a weak body to work beyond its strength, you impose a darkening on the soul, and you superinduce confusion all the more. But if you give a strong body to idleness and rest, all the malice of the soul will dwell in it. And he who desires good, but tepidly, also takes that good away from himself. When the soul has been inebriated in the joy of the hope of the supernal gladness of God, its body becomes insensible to tribulation; even though it is weak. For it sustains a double burden: namely, of infirmity and of tribulation. And it does not understand, but covets in the delights of the soul.

If you keep your tongue, O brother, grace is given to you by God of compunction of the heart, so that into it

you may enter, and in this find the joy of the Spirit. ^A If your tongue conquers you, believe me in what I say to you: you will never be able to escape from the darkness. If you do not have a pure heart, at least have a purified heart, as the blessed Jerome said. When you wish to admonish someone for the good, first grant him bodily rest, and honor him with words of charity. Nothing so makes a man feel ashamed and turn from his malice to better things, as do both corporeal goods and the honor he sees shown to him. As much struggle as one undertakes for God, so much the more confidently does it work in his heart during prayer. And as much as one is preoccupied by many things, so much is he grounded by the help of God. Do not be sad, nor be disturbed in the heats of the body, for death will perfectly take them from you. Do not fear death, because God made you greater than death.

CHAPTER LIII. Concerning Sobriety and Continence.

^B This, then, is the sober man and one beloved of God: not to look here and there with his eyes, but always to look before him, to speak no idle words, but only necessary ones. To be covered with vile clothing for the necessity of the body, and so to use food for the sustenance of the body that one does not fall into gluttony, to partake a little of everything, and neither to despise these things nor to choose among them, nor to fill the belly with them; for discretion is greater than every virtue, not to take wine except for 53 infirmity and weakness. Do not cut off the speech ^C of one who is speaking. Nor answer like an unlearned man, but be silent like a prudent one. Wherever you are found, esteem yourself less and a servant of your brethren. Do not uncover any of your limbs before anyone, nor draw near to the body of anyone except for a cause of necessity, nor permit anyone to draw near to your body, unless, as I said, for a reasonable cause. Flee from familiarity with women as from death: ask for a sober and holy order, so that the virtue that guards you may not be distanced from you. In whatever place you sleep, if it is possible, let no one see you. Do not cast out your breath before anyone; if sitting at the table a cough happens to you, turn your face backward, and cough.

With sobriety eat and drink, as befits the sons of God. Do not stretch out your hand to take something from before anyone in such a way as to make your neighbor feel ashamed or to appear presumptuous. If, however, a stranger sits with you, admonish him once and twice to eat; and seat yourself at the table in an orderly fashion, not turbulently; and sit in an orderly and honest way, not uncovering any of your limbs. When you yawn, cover your mouth so that you are not seen; for you restrain the exhalations as you pass, if you are able. If you enter the cell of your teacher, or of a friend or disciple, beware that you do not see anything there. But if you are not compelled, do not do this. Because he who is assiduous in these things is a stranger to the monastic habit ^D of those whose vessels are hidden from your friend. With tranquility open the door of your neighbor, and close it similarly. Do not suddenly enter to anyone, but knocking as an outsider, enter when permitted. Do not be swift in your gait except for a necessary cause compelling you. Be obedient to all at all times, except to the stingy and the covetous: but do not seek possessions, lest it become a diabolical work. Treat everyone with meekness, and look at everyone with sobriety and honesty, and do not fill your eyes with the sight of any thing. Walking on the road, do not get ahead of one who is greater than you. If, however, your companion lags behind a little while you proceed, wait for him: for he who does not do this is unwise. When your companion speaks to one he meets, wait for him. Let the healthy man speak to the infirm. Let us perform a necessity before the time. Do not argue with someone about a sin; but esteem yourself in all things culpable and the cause of the offense. Do not refuse to do every vile work with all humility.

If you are forced to laugh, let not your teeth appear. If compelled to speak with a woman, turn your face away from her sight, and thus speak with her. Flee from nuns as from fire and the snare of the devil; flee their meeting and conversation and sight, so that they may not stain your heart with the filth of vices; although they may be your sisters according to the flesh, guard yourself as you would from strangers. Flee from the familiarity and conversation of youths as from the friendship of the devil. Have one interlocutor and companion who fears God, and guards himself: who is indeed poor in his tabernacle, but rich in the ministries of God. Hide your mysteries from all, and keep your own operations. Do not sit before anyone without your habit, except by necessity. With sobriety go out for your necessities as if ashamed, with an angel guarding you, and perfect the fear of God. It is better for you to eat lethal poison than to eat with a woman, even if she be your mother or your sister. It is better to dwell with a dragon than to sleep with someone, and to be covered with him, even if he be your brother according to the flesh. If someone says to you, while you are walking on a journey: "Come, let us sing psalms"—do not be disobedient to him. If, however, he does not say it, be silent in your tongue, but glorify God in your heart. Do not resist anyone for anything, nor argue, nor lie, nor swear by the name of God. Despise yourself, and do not despise others. Endure injury, and do not inflict injury on another. It is better for things of the body to be corrupted with the body than to cause damage to anything of the soul. Do not enter into judgment with someone, but endure it while being condemned or condemnable. Do not love anything worldly for your soul, but be subject to leaders and princes, and abstain yourself from their junction: for that very entanglement is what entangles the negligent into perdition.

gulose, you who seek to care for your own gluttony, it is better ^A for you to cast hot coals into your stomach than the fryings of the rich and of princes. Always pour over yourself all the oil of mercy, and be observant of yourself in all things. Keep yourself from much talking: for this extinguishes in the heart the intellectual motions that sprout from God. Flee from lording it over others with the prelates of the Church, and with others, as from a bold lion. And in the public squares of those who are angry or fighting, do not pass through, so that your heart may not be filled with fury, and the darkness of error be given to your soul. Do not dwell with the proud, for thus the holy operation of the saints ^B is taken away from your soul, and it becomes a dwelling-place for all vices. If you keep these precepts, O man, and keep yourself in the meditation of God in truth, your soul will see light within itself and will not be darkened for ever: to Him be honor and glory unto the ages. Amen.

ISAAC THE SYRIAN. ON THOUGHTS.

^C The motion of thoughts arises in man from four causes. First, from the natural will of the flesh; second, from the imagination of the things of the world introduced through the senses, which he hears and sees; third, from preconceptions and the calling of the soul which one has in the mind; fourth, from the assaults of the demons who war against us in all the passions through the four causes we have mentioned. On this account, a man cannot, as long as he is in this life of the flesh, until death, cease from having thoughts and war. For if it is possible, before the departure from this world and death, to be freed from one of these four causes, you judge. But if it is absurd to think that any such thing ^D is possible—since our nature is in need of these things—then the passions move in every one who bears a body, who has the will and the leading. And for this reason it is necessary for every person to be watchful; I do not say against one passion, nor two, but against many, as one who bears a body. For those who have conquered the passions through the virtues, even if they are troubled by thoughts and the assaults of the four causes, yet they are not overcome; but they have powers, and their mind is snatched up into the good and divine powers of Him who visits his soul at every hour; the soul and heart rejoice in the revelations, and he who gathers his contemplation within himself sees the light of the Spirit which has loathed distraction; he sees his Master within his own heart. He who wishes to see the Lord strives to purify his heart in the incessant memory of God; and thus in the brightness of his mind at every hour