A, in what way they enter these coenobia, and remain in them in humility and obedience even to extreme old age. For there is such great obedience among them, and such humility even to old age, as would not be found even in the first year among those who have renounced the world in our monasteries. 45 It is not, therefore, permitted for one who desires to become a monk to be received into the monastery until he has given some proof and experiment of his love toward God, his humility, and his patience through the greatest obedience. Having been proven by these things, he becomes acceptable to them, and he is taught not to keep any of his own possessions stored away; for they know that he who retains any of his own property cannot remain for long in the obedience of the monastery, nor persevere to the end, on account of the languor and weariness of his soul. For whenever any small occasion or affliction moves his mind, at once the hope of the treasure he has kept back, just like a sling with a stone B, casts him out of the monastery. For this reason, each one of them is stripped of his former property, so that he is not even permitted to use the garment in which he arrived. But, with all the brothers gathered together, he is brought into the midst, he takes off his own clothes, and by the hands of the abbot is reclothed in the vestments of the monastery; so that by this figure he may recognize that, having been stripped of all worldly things and of arrogance and pride, he has put on the poverty of Christ, and that he may without shame number himself and make himself equal to the body of the brotherhood. 47 The clothes of which he is stripped are received by the steward of the monastery, who keeps them set aside C until he has given proof of his progress, his conduct, and his patience in various temptations. And if they find indeed that he is able to persevere in these things, and to continue with all the zeal and fervent purpose with which he began, they number him with the rest of the brothers. But if they discover in him the sin of murmuring or any fault of disobedience, they strip him of what he was clothed with from the monastery, reclothe him in his worldly garments, and expel him from the coenobium; so that from this strictness it is thereafter not easy for one who wishes to enter or to depart from the monastery as he pleases, but he who does not stay is in every way stripped of the monastery’s vestments in accordance with his own profession.
4. 48 When, therefore, one who has been received, as we have said, has been proven by this strictness and found blameless D, he is not immediately permitted to mingle with the company of the brothers, but is surrendered to him to whom the care of strangers has been entrusted, and he is commanded to apply himself wholly to the ministry and service of guests. And after he has served the guests blamelessly for a full year, being formed by this for humility and patience, he is then at last numbered with the company of the brothers and surrendered to one of the elders, to whom the care of this office
A belongs, so that he may teach the disciple by what path he must begin if he would attain to the perfection of the virtues. In the first place, therefore, he teaches him to make it his concern to overcome his own desires and pleasures, by commanding him to do things that are contrary to his own will. For the Fathers say that no one can otherwise restrain their pleasures, or get the better of anger or sadness, or obtain true humility, or, in short, be rightly perfected among the brothers in a coenobium, unless he has first mortified his own will through obedience. B Having advanced the disciple by these fundamental rules and doctrines—as if by certain elements and syllables—they subsequently teach him not to hide his own thoughts, but, as soon as they arise, to disclose them to his own Father; and let him have no confidence in his own heart regarding the judgment and examination of them, but let him know that to be good or evil which the Father, having examined the matter, has declared to be of such a nature. In this way, whoever is being trained in virtue will be able to avoid all the deceits of the enemy; for, being inexperienced, he is ignorant of the enemy’s wiles. For the holy Fathers say that the sure sign of the devil’s art and traps is when he persuades the disciple to hide his thoughts from the Fathers, and this from a movement of pride, as if they themselves were capable of taking suitable counsel on the matter by themselves, or out of vain glory, because they are ashamed, of course, to make their thoughts public.
5. (51) Furthermore, there is such great obedience among them C that no one dares, without the abbot’s command, even to go out from the cell in which he sits; and they fulfill his commands with as much zeal as if God Himself were ordering them. (52) While they sit in their cells, and apply themselves to manual labor, meditation, and prayer, and set their minds studiously to these, if they hear anyone knocking at the door of their cell to call them either to common prayer or to some manual task, they immediately leave everything aside and hasten to the commanded task, most studiously cultivating the virtue of obedience; which they prefer not only to manual work, reading, and quiet dwelling in the cell, but even to all the virtues, and they put everything else after it.
6. (52*) It is, moreover, superfluous to mention that no one D among them possesses anything other than a colobium, a hemiphorium, sandals, a sheepskin, and a mat; for they consider it shameful if it is said, "my book," "my pen," or anything else "mine." And yet each one of them brings to the monastery so much revenue from his own work and sweat that it is enough not only for their own needs, but also for the service of guests and the poor. While they labor in this way, they are not puffed up, nor do they swell with pride, nor does any one of them demand more for his own work and sweat than is allotted by the abbot according to necessity; nor does he acquire for himself the possession of any thing, since he treats himself as a stranger and a foreigner to the whole world, and as a servant...
A and minister of his brethren rather than the master of any earthly thing. But if any one breaks or loses any vessel whatsoever, he confesses the fault of his own negligence to the abbot, and thus receives forgiveness with the humility of repentance. Whoever, being called to some task, or to the assembly (synaxis), arrives late out of contempt, or answers more harshly or insolently, or performs the commanded task more negligently or with murmuring; or if, preferring reading to manual labor and obedience, he performs the tasks enjoined upon him more slowly; or if, when dismissed from the assembly, he does not quickly hasten to his work; or if he has spoken with any one without necessity; or has touched another’s hand with familiarity; or has met with relatives without the abbot’s permission and B blessing; or has dared to receive a letter from any one, or to write back to any one without the abbot’s consent—if he has sinned in any such matter, he is subjected to the following penance: When the brothers are gathered in the assembly, he casts himself upon the ground and, having confessed, asks for forgiveness for his fault. But if any one is found perpetrating graver offenses, which are: contempt, stubbornness with pride, or departure from the monastery without the abbot’s permission, or meeting with a woman, or anger, or fighting, or enmity against any one, or remembering injuries, or love of money, which is the leprosy of the soul, or the possession of any thing whatsoever, except those things which are given by the abbot, or food taken furtively without the abbot’s blessing, and things similar to these, he does not undergo the aforementioned penance, C but a more severe and much greater one. And if he does not repent, he is cast out of the monastery.
7. That reading takes place in some monastic communities at the time of eating is not observed by the rule of the Egyptians, but by that of the Cappadocians, who instituted it not so much for the sake of spiritual exercise as for the sake of quiet and the avoidance of conversation. Among the Egyptians, however, and especially among the Tabennesiotes, such silence is maintained by all when that vast multitude of brothers gathers at the table for the time of eating, that hardly anything similar is to be found elsewhere; so much so that no one even dares to hawk, except the one in charge of the table, who, if there is need of anything, signifies it by a signal D rather than by voice. Furthermore, they wear their cowls down to their eyelids, so that they may not, having wandering eyes, look too curiously at others, but direct their attention only to the table and to the thanksgiving to be rendered to God who feeds them. And there is great care among them that no one of them takes food outside the table.
8. That we may not seem to have left out any of the monastic rules, we must also remember those which are in other
A regions, concerning the customs handed down. Throughout all Mesopotamia, Palestine, and Cappadocia, and the whole East, at the time of the third, sixth, and ninth hour offices, if anyone has not arrived before the first psalm is finished, he may not dare to enter the oratory nor join those who are chanting, but stands before the doors and awaits the dismissal of the brethren. When all depart, he prostrates himself on the ground in penance, asking pardon for his negligence. In the nocturnal offices, however, pardon is granted to those who arrive late up until the second psalm. Furthermore, the brothers take turns weekly in the kitchen and in other duties, both for the sake of lightening their labor and so that they may fulfill the law of charity through mutual service. B Such humility and diligence do they employ in their service as even slaves would not provide for their masters. When the week is completed, on the Lord's Day after the morning hymns, they hand over the signed vessels of their office to others who are entering to serve. Those who receive them guard them with as much care and concern, lest any of them be broken or lost, as one would show who is entrusted with sacred vessels dedicated to God. For they prepare themselves to render an account, not only to the steward in the present time, but also to God in the future, if through negligence or sloth anything of them should be lost. Furthermore, to give greater credence to what I have said, I will narrate what I have seen with my own eyes. During the week of a certain brother, the steward C passing by saw a few grains of lentils scattered on the ground. He did not despise them as a thing of no value, but having rebuked the brother to whom that week had been entrusted, he imposed a penalty upon him, as one negligent of things dedicated to God and trampling upon his own conscience. For they serve and manage all things with such care and concern that they guard with great attention even those things which to us seem base and despicable; so that they move a vessel poorly placed and gather up what has been dropped, believing that they will receive a reward for these things also from the Lord God. We have found these rules for the weeks to be observed throughout the whole East. Among the Egyptians, however, the weekly alternation is not so maintained; rather, the care of the kitchen is entrusted to one brother of the most tested virtue, D for as long as his virtue increases and his bodily strength suffices for the function of the office, and neither old age nor infirmity hinders him. And since our discourse is about obedience and humility, through which we can attain to the highest summit of virtue, I think it worthwhile to add a few examples to our narrative from the many noble deeds of the holy Fathers, who shone in the coenobia.
9. There was a certain Father named Muthius, who
A when he desired to renounce the world, came to the coenobium and persisted for a long time before the doors of the monastery, until, by reason of his great patience, he was admitted with his young son, contrary to the customary rule of the coenobium. And when, after many labors, he had entered, they were not only committed to various tasks, but were also separated regarding the habitation of their cell, so that by that detachment they might gradually be freed from that mutual natural affection; from which, by the grace of Christ, the father was freed through much exercise. And at one time, for the testing and proving of his virtue, the abbot pretended to be moved with anger against the boy and commanded the aforementioned father of his to take him up and cast him into the river. Then he, as if commanded by God to carry his son, arrived at the bank of the river at a run, and while he was hastening to fulfill the command with ardent faith and the fervor of obedience, he was hindered by the brethren who preceded him and snatched the boy away. B To such a degree, then, was his faith and obedience accepted by God, that it was revealed by God to the abbot that he had performed the work of Abraham. A short time later, when the aforementioned abbot of the coenobium had died, he left him as his successor.
10. Another we know of, a brother who renounced the world, who was also of high standing in the world (for his father was a count and waged war and was wealthy), and he was not moderately learned in serious reading. This man, therefore, having abandoned worldly vanity, hastened to the monastic life; and, indeed, for the trial of his faith and humility he was commanded by the abbot to carry ten baskets and to sell them in his own city, and not all at once but to sell them one by one. This he accomplished with all patience and humility, placing the baskets upon his shoulders and selling them individually; he did not consider with himself the lowliness of the thing, nor the nobility of his lineage, nor the apparent disgrace of the sale, for he strove to make himself an imitator of the humility of Christ. C
11. We also saw another of the Fathers, D Abbot Pinophan, a man adorned with every virtue, who was an elder and the abbot of a great coenobium which is in Egypt near the city of Panepho. Seeing himself to be praised and celebrated by all, both on account of his way of life and his old age and his leadership, and not being able to exercise himself in the practices of humility, as he had from the beginning, by reason of that subjection so dear to him to which he had been called, he fled secretly from his own coenobium and withdrew alone to the farthest parts of the Thebaid. And having taken off the habit of a monk and put on worldly garments, he went to the coenobium of the Tabennesiotes, thinking that he could remain hidden there, both on account of the multitude of the brothers and because it was far removed from the region in which his own coenobium was located. There, after many days
A of supplication, he was received by the archimandrite, who entrusted him, as one who was aged and good for nothing else, with the care and tending of the garden, alongside another brother to whom he submitted, and in so doing successfully practiced the humility and obedience he so desired. Nor was he satisfied with that ministry alone, but whatever tasks seemed difficult or arduous to others, he performed them all eagerly. When he had passed three years in this hidden state, being sought by his disciples throughout all of Egypt, he was with difficulty at last recognized by a certain brother who had arrived there. This brother, having observed him and recognized the features of his face, but still being in doubt, attempted to hear his voice; for he was not certain from sight alone, observing such a man to be aged, holding a mattock, working the earth, and carrying manure on his own shoulders to lay at the roots of the vegetables. When, therefore, carefully investigating the sound of his voice, he realized who it was, he cast himself before his feet, striking those who saw it with great astonishment that he had so deported himself—a man who was considered by them to be a novice, having abandoned the world not long before, and who was held to be the lowest of all. And they were still more amazed when they learned his name, for before this he had been reputed to have great fame among them; and they begged his pardon, because in their ignorance they had ranked him among the lowest novices. After exhorting him with many words, they sent him back to their own coenobium, against his will and while he was lamenting because it was not granted to him to exercise his beloved humility and obedience. B Having therefore spent a short time in his monastery, and being again set afire with the desire for humility and obedience, he watched for a time of night and fled, no longer to a strange land; for having boarded a boat, he came to the regions of Palestine, hoping that there he might at last remain hidden. When he had come to Palestine, he sought out the monastery situated near the cave where Christ the Lord was born, in which monastery he happened to be dwelling at that time. Yet he could not remain hidden there, according to that word of the Lord saying: "A city set on a hill cannot be hidden." For when brothers had come from the regions of Egypt for the adoration of the holy places, they recognized him, and having persuaded him back with many entreaties and tears, they led him away to their own coenobium. C I lived for a short time in Egypt with this holy man; and I shall bring this discourse to a close by narrating what I heard when he was admonishing a brother whom he admitted in my presence.
12. "You know," he says, "brother, how many days before you were admitted to the doors of the monastery today you had spent; if, therefore, you learn the cause of this difficulty, it will be able to bring you benefit on this path upon which you desire to enter, and to make you a faithful servant of God. For just as glory and honor are promised in the future to those who faithfully serve the Lord, so do most grave D punishments impend
over those who approach this promise lukewarmly and slothfully. For it is better, according to Scripture, not to vow than to vow and not to pay. And again it is said: “Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord negligently.” For this reason we have turned away and delayed to admit you, not that we do not desire your salvation and that of all those who believe in Christ, but that we may not, by admitting you rashly and casually, bring upon ourselves the penalty of excessive lenity before God, praying as we are, and make you liable to a more severe punishment, if we should admit you too easily—before you have learned the gravity and precision of the promise—and you should afterwards turn out soft and slothful. Therefore, as was said above, you must learn the cause of your renunciation, and what is required of you. B Renunciation, therefore, is nothing else than a promise of the cross and of death. Know, then, that from this day you are dead and crucified to the world, and the world to you, according to the Apostle; and discern what the power of the cross is, since it is no longer you who live, but He who was crucified for you who lives in you. In this figure and form, then, in which the Lord was suspended for us, it is necessary for us to conduct ourselves in the monastery, as the blessed David prays, asking that his flesh be pierced with the fear of the Lord. For just as he who has his body nailed to the wood is motionless toward any action he might desire, so he who has his mind pierced by divine fear is motionless toward every carnal concupiscence. And just as he who is nailed to the cross thinks no more of present things; nor is he led by his own will, nor is he troubled by concupiscence, nor is he intent on the care of possessing, C nor is he puffed up with pride, nor is he inflamed with contention or envy, nor does he grieve at present insults, nor does he remember past injuries—for after a little while he awaits the end of his life by the cross—so he who has sincerely renounced the world, and is, as it were, crucified by the fear of God, looking daily for the end of this life, has all concupiscences and all carnal affections motionless and powerless.
13. Be on your guard, therefore, lest you desire those things which you cast away when you renounced them. For according to the pronouncement of the Lord, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of heaven”; and he who descends from the high state of life to the base and earthly affairs of this world acts against the precept of the Lord, D as one who descends from the house and attempts to take something from the house. Be careful, therefore, lest, remembering your former affection for your carnal parents and turning back to the cares of this age, you be found unfit according to the voice of the Lord for the kingdom of heaven. Beware lest the pride which at the beginning you trampled underfoot by the fervor of humility, you should again
raise up against yourself when you learn the Psalter A or any part of Scripture, or, according to the voice of the Apostle, by rebuilding what you have destroyed, you prove yourself a transgressor; but rather, as you have begun, and have confessed humility before God and His angels, preserve it to the end. In like manner, seek to increase the patience which you showed in the monastery, when for many days you persevered before the doors of the monastery, entreating with tears. It would be a truly miserable thing if, when it becomes you to add daily to your fervor and to ascend toward perfection with constant progress, you should diminish it and turn back to inferior things. For not he who begins to do good is blessed, but whoever shall have persevered in it until the end. For the serpent who is dragged along the earth always watches our heel, that is, he prepares snares for our departure, and attempts to trip us up even to the end of our life. Wherefore it will profit nothing to have begun well, B nothing the fervent beginning of obedience, unless the end likewise follows. And that humility which is according to Christ, which you have now promised, will not be confirmed unless you exhibit it to the very end. Wherefore, that you may be able to possess it perfectly and to crush the head of the dragon, when thoughts assail you, make haste to reveal them from the very beginning. For if you thus make public from the start the pernicious thoughts of the dragon, and are not ashamed to declare them to your Father, you will crush his head. For indeed, according to divine Scripture, if you approach to serve God, prepare yourself not for carelessness, not for idleness, but for temptations, for tribulations. For, "Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of heaven"; and: "Narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leadeth to life, and few there are who find it." Apply your mind, therefore, to those few good men, and fashion your life by their example; do not pay attention to the slothful and the contemptuous, however many they may be in number: "For many," he says, "are called, but few are chosen": and it is a little flock to whom it hath pleased the Father to give the kingdom. Do not deem it a small sin to promise perfection and to imitate those who are more negligent and slothful. In order, therefore, that you may be able to arrive at perfection, use this rule, and ascend by these steps.
14. The first step of virtue and the beginning of our salvation is the fear of God: for by it there occurs D a purgation of sins, and a custody of virtues, and a road to perfection is obtained. For when the fear of God has entered into the soul, it persuades us to despise all worldly things; hence there arises an oblivion of kinsmen and of the whole world; therefrom furthermore human...
A humility, the head of all virtues and the perfection of all good deeds, is practiced; for humility comes through the contempt and deprivation of all things. Humility is tested by these signs: First, if one has mortified his own wills; second, if he hides from his Father nothing, not only of his actions but even of his thoughts; third, if he does not trust in his own judgment, but in all things trusts to the discretion of his Father, hungering always and longing and gladly listening to his admonition; fourth, if he serves all the orders of his Father without shame; fifth, if he not only does not dare to insult anyone himself, but also welcomes with joy the insults brought upon him by others; B sixth, if he attempts to do nothing new which the common rule and the examples of the Fathers do not encourage; seventh, if he is content with all baseness, and gives thanks for the things given to him, and considers himself unworthy of them; eighth, if he considers himself always lower than all, and is not rash in words; tenth, if he is not facile in speech and ready with his tongue. For by these and similar signs humility is recognized. When these things are truly achieved, they quickly lead to the height of love, in which there is no fear of hell, and through which all things are no longer kept with necessity and labor, but with a burning longing and desire for the good. But that you may be able to reach this virtue more easily, let the words of the brothers who strive together with you and possess piety be an example to you for imitation; not, however, those of the many who live their lives more negligently and sluggishly. For from the imitation and emulation of the saints, great utility accrues to those willing to contend toward perfection.
15. If therefore you wish to be able to follow all these things, and under them to persevere to the end in the spiritual contest of the cenobium, let those things which David says be necessary for you for your protection in the assembly of the brothers: "But I, as a deaf man, did not hear; and as a man not hearing, and not having in his mouth reproofs" (Ps. XXXVII, 14, 15). Therefore, whatever you see that is alien to C edification and utility, become as a blind man; and whatever you hear, as a deaf and dumb man, and one not having reproofs in his mouth. And do not imitate those who happen to be unfaithful, disobedient, rash, vulgar, and abusive; but as a deaf man and one not hearing, pass these by. If someone heaps upon you reproofs, or insults, or abuses, remain unmoved as one bridled and dumb, always repeating this verse of the Psalm: "I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue. I have set a guard to my mouth, when the sinner stood against me; I was dumb, and was humbled" (Ps. XXXVIII, 1-3). Moreover, in addition to these, meditate on this fourth thing before all others, and keep it, which is also that for those wishing to strive toward the holy ones, great utility follows.
the above-mentioned things, so that, in accordance with the Apostle's precept, A you may make yourself foolish and unwise in this world, that you may become wise: that is, by judging or doubting nothing in whatever you are commanded, but being instructed in simplicity and the faith of obedience. Among all holy things, consider only that to be holy, wise, and useful which has been commanded to you by your Father. If you strengthen your heart with this resolve, you will be able to sustain the yoke of Christ's obedience even to the end, and no temptations or artifices of the devil will be able to shake you from the knowledge of life.
(75) Do not expect to establish your patience, humility, and long-suffering from the virtue of others; that is, B if no one provokes you, no one despises you, no one treats you with dishonor: for this is neither a proof of your virtue, nor is it in your power. Rather, it is when you willingly bear reproaches, insults, and contempt that the matter lies within your own free will. (76) Therefore, in order that we may state briefly what we have discussed more broadly above, so that you may remember them more easily, hear again how you may be able in order to arrive at perfection. The beginning of our salvation is the fear of God: from this is born good obedience: hence arises subjection and contempt for the things of the world: from this humility is born the mortification of one's own wills: from the mortification of wills, the roots of the pleasures are dried up: by these, all the imperfections of the soul C are eliminated, by whose expulsion the virtues grow and bear fruit. From the increase of the virtues is born purity of heart: apostolic perfection follows purity of heart, by the grace and assistance of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
OF THE SAME GREAT ATHANASIUS TO THE SAME CASTOR ON THE EIGHT EVIL THOUGHTS
1. (77) Since we have previously spoken about the establishment of cenobitic life, trusting in your prayers, we now undertake to write about the eight evil thoughts—I mean gluttony, fornication, avarice, anger, sadness, sloth, vainglory, and pride. Therefore, we shall first speak of abstinence D of the stomach, which is opposed to gluttony; we shall also treat of the manner of fasting, and of the quality and quantity of food. (78) And we are not about to say these things from ourselves; but those things which we have received from our holy Fathers. They, therefore, did not hand down one rule of fasting, nor one mode of eating, nor the same measure for all, because not all are of the same strength or age, and because some labor under bodily infirmity, while others have a more delicate body. Yet they handed down one goal for all, to flee gluttony and avoid the satiation of the stomach: and by experience
they declared A that a daily fast is more useful and contributes more to purity than if one were to prolong a fast for three or four days, or even up to a week. For they say that he who prolongs a fast immoderately often uses food beyond measure; so that from this it often happens that sometimes, because of the excess of starvation, the body falls ill and becomes more sluggish for spiritual ministries; and at other times, being weighed down by a multitude of foods, it engenders laziness and softness in the soul. Again, that the use of vegetables is not suitable for all, nor that of legumes for all, nor can the nourishment of dry bread suffice for all: likewise, there are those who, having eaten two pounds of bread, are still hungry, while others are satisfied with one pound, or even six ounces.
Therefore, for all, as has been said, they have handed down one goal of abstinence: that one should not be deceived by the satiation of the stomach, nor be dragged along by the pleasure of the throat. For it is not only the difference in quality, but also the great quantity of foods that is accustomed to ignite the burning arrows of sin; for the stomach, when filled with any food whatsoever, gives birth to seeds of wantonness. And again, not only the drunkenness of wine, but also the filling up with water, and an excess of any food whatsoever, weigh a man down and render him sluggish and drowsy. For the Sodomites, it was not wine or the drunkenness of various foods that became the cause of their destruction, but the fullness of bread, according to the prophet (Ezech. XVI, 49). B Weakness of the body does not oppose the purity of the heart. You should therefore grant the body those things which its weakness demands, not those which pleasure seeks. The use of food is employed insofar as it is necessary for sustaining life, not so that it may serve the impulses of desire. A moderate and rational consumption of food procures the health of the body and does not take away holiness.
This is the accurate norm and rule of abstinence transmitted by the holy Fathers: that the eater should make an end to the taking of food while the appetite C is still present. And the Apostle also, when he said: "Make not provision for the flesh, to satisfy its desires" (Rom. XIII, 14), did not forbid the necessary governance of life, but forbade the pleasure-loving care of it. Furthermore, for the perfect purity of the soul, mere abstinence from food is not sufficient unless the other virtues also run in concert. Therefore, humility through the obedience of labor and the affliction of the body confers great goods upon us. To be free from avarice is not only not to have money, but not even to desire the possession of it. The restraint of anger, of sadness, of vainglory, and of pride leads the soul to purity. D All these things bring about the total purity of the soul. But abstinence, and especially fasting, above all others brings about that particular purity of the soul which is obtained through temperance. For it is impossible for him who has a full stomach to struggle with his mind against the spirit of fornication.
Therefore, let our first struggle be to control the belly and subjugate the body, not only through fasting, but also through vigils, labor, reading, and by conceiving in our soul the fear of hell and the desire for the kingdom of heaven.
2. B Our second struggle is against the spirit of fornication and the lust of the flesh, a lust which begins to trouble a human being from an early age. This struggle is great and difficult, and it involves a double battle; for it is double, being established both in the soul and in the body. And for this reason, one must undertake a double battle against it. For the physical fast alone is not sufficient for the attainment of perfect temperance and true purity, unless there is also assiduous prayer to God, frequent meditation on the divine Scriptures, and the labor and work of the hands, which are able to restrain the unstable impulses of the soul and recall it from obscene imaginations. But before all things, the humility of the soul contributes much, without which no one will be able to overcome fornication or the other passions. Consequently, it is necessary above all to guard the heart with every watchfulness from sordid thoughts. For from this source, according to the word of the Lord, proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, and the rest. For indeed, fasting is commanded to us not only for the affliction of the body, but also for the sobriety of the mind, so that, darkened by a multitude of foods, it might not be unable to guard against thoughts. Therefore, one must not only expend every care on bodily fasting, but also on attention to thoughts and on spiritual meditation, without which it is impossible to ascend to the summit of true chastity and purity. It is appropriate, therefore, according to the word of the Lord, that we first purify the inside of the cup and the dish, so that the outside may also be clean. C For this reason, if we have a concern, according to the Apostle, to strive lawfully and to be crowned, having conquered the unclean spirit of fornication, let us not rely on our own strength or asceticism, but on the assistance of the Lord God. For a man does not cease to be warred upon by this demon until he believes in truth that it is not by his own effort or toil, but by the influence and assistance of God, that he is delivered from this disease and ascends to the height of purity. Indeed, it is a thing above nature, and in a certain way it exists outside the body, in one who has trampled upon the stings of the flesh and its pleasures. And for this reason, it is impossible for a man to fly, if I may so speak, on his own wings to this summit and to the prize of holiness, and to become an imitator of the angels, unless the grace of God leads him out of the earth and the mire. For by no virtue are men bound by the flesh made more similar to the heavenly angels than by temperance: for by it, while they still dwell on earth, they have, according to the Apostle, their conversation in
heaven. The proof that we have acquired this virtue is that not even an image of an obscene fantasy encroaches upon the soul during sleep. For even if such a movement is not reckoned as sin, it is nevertheless a sign that the soul is ailing and not yet freed from the passion. A And for this reason, we ought to believe that the obscene fantasies occurring to us during sleep are a test of our preceding negligence and of the weakness within us, as the nature that occurs in the relaxation of sleep manifests the disease hidden in the secret depths of the soul. Wherefore, the physician of souls has deposited the medicine in the secret depths of the soul, knowing that the causes of the disease are there, saying: "Whoever looks at a woman to desire her, he has already committed adultery with her in his heart." He is not so much correcting the lustful and curious eyes as the soul residing within, which has wrongly used the eyes given by God for our good. For this reason, the wise proverb does not say, "With all vigilance watch your eyes," but, "With all vigilance watch your heart." To that [heart], it applies the remedy of the greatest vigilance, which uses the eyes according to its own will.
B Therefore, let this be the first watch of our purification: that when the memory of a woman, by diabolical influence, enters our mind—even if it be of a mother, or a sister, or other pious women—we should quickly cast it out from our heart. This is so that, if we dither too long in such a thought, that deceiver and author of evil may not, from the fantasy of such faces, roll and cast our mind down into obscene and harmful thoughts. This is just as the commandment given by God to the first man instructs us to watch the head of the serpent, that is, the beginning of the harmful thought by which it attempts to crawl into our soul, so that by admitting the head—which is the onset of the thought—we do not also admit the rest of the serpent's body, that is, the laying hold of pleasure, and from this, he may eventually cast our mind down into illicit action. But it is fitting, as it is written, "In the morning I will cut off all the sinners of the land," that is, in the light of knowledge, to discern and destroy the sinful thoughts C from the land, which is the heart, according to the voice of the Lord. And while the sons of Babylon, that is, the evil thoughts, are still little ones, it is necessary to level them and dash them against the rock, which is Christ. For if they should come to a mature age through our consent, they will not be overcome without great groaning and labor.
In addition to what has been said from the holy Scripture, it is well to add the saying of the holy Fathers. D It was therefore said by the holy Basil, Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia: "I do not know a woman, and yet I am not a virgin"; he had thus fully explored that the gift of virginity is not rightly possessed from woman by bodily temperance alone, but much more by the holiness, purity, and fear of God of the soul.
A Likewise, it has been said to Blessed Basil, bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia: "I know neither woman, nor am I a virgin." He understood that the gift of virginity is not achieved by bodily abstinence from woman alone, but as it is naturally achieved by the holiness and purity of the soul and the fear of God. The Fathers also say this: that we cannot possess the virtue of perfect purity unless we first possess true humility in our heart; nor are we deemed worthy of true knowledge as long as the passion of fornication lies hidden in the inmost parts of the soul. But in order to demonstrate this great achievement B even from the Apostle, let us mention one of his sayings and bring our discourse to a close. "Follow peace with all men," he says, "and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." That he is speaking about this is clear from what he added, when he said: "Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau." Therefore, the more heavenly and angelic the virtue of purity is, the more severely it is attacked by the snares of the adversary. For this reason, we must take care not only to maintain bodily temperance, but also to pour out contrition of heart and frequent prayers with groans, so that the furnace of our flesh, which the Babylonian king kindles daily with the goads of concupiscence, may be extinguished by the dew of the presence of the Holy Spirit. In addition to this, the greatest weapon against such an enemy is available to us, namely, the vigil kept in God. For just as chastity and the keeping of the day prepare the holiness of the night, so the nightly vigil in God prepares the holiness of the day.
3. The third struggle for us is against the spirit of avarice; this war is foreign and is found to be outside of nature, and it befalls the monk through an occasion of unbelief. For the stimuli of other passions, namely anger and concupiscence, seem to have their occasions from the body and are in some measure innate, and have their beginning from birth, which is why they are only overcome over a long period of time. But the disease of avarice, coming from the outside, can be more easily cut away if care and attention are present; but if it is neglected, it becomes more destructive than other passions and abominable; for it is the root of all evils, according to the Apostle. C Let us consider it in this way. The natural movements of the body are seen not only in boys, in whom there is not yet the discernment of good and evil, but also, I say, in the very smallest and nursing infants, who, although they do not have even a trace of carnal pleasure, nevertheless show movement in the flesh. Similarly, the stimulus of anger appears in infants, when we see them moved D against those who cause them annoyance. I say these things not to reproach nature as the cause of sin, God forbid! but to show that although anger and concupiscence were joined to man by God the creator for good, yet it seems that through sloth man falls from the natural movements of the body into those that are against nature.
A For the movement of the body for the procreation of children and the continued succession of the human race was bound by the Creator, not for fornication; and the movement of anger was sown in us for our salvation, so that we might be angry against sin, not so that we might become savage against those of our own kin. Therefore, if we make bad use of these, the nature is not sinful, nor should we blame the Maker, just as we do not blame him who gave iron for necessary and useful need, if he who received it used it for the service of murder. We have said these things, wishing to show that the passion of avarice does not have its beginning from natural movements, but from pure malice and a corrupted purpose. For this disease, when it finds a soul that is tepid and faithless at the beginning of its retirement, suggests certain just and seemingly reasonable pretexts for holding on to something of what it possesses; B for it describes in the mind to the monk a long old age, and bodily infirmity, and that the supplies given from the cenobium are not sufficient for consolation—I do not say for the infirm, but not even for the healthy—and that here the care for the infirm is not as it should be, but is even greatly neglected, so that if one does not have gold hidden away, he will die miserably. Finally, it suggests that one cannot remain for long in the monastery because of the heaviness of the labors and the strictness of the Father. And when it has led the mind astray with such thoughts, to the point even of holding on to one denarius, it then persuades him to work at a craft secretly without the abbot’s knowledge, from which he will be able to increase the money that is so highly prized by him; and finally it deceives the wretch with vague hopes, suggesting to him the gain from his craft and the rest and freedom from care that will come from it. C And, being altogether bound by the thought of gain, he considers nothing of the opposites: not the madness of anger if it should happen that he falls into loss, not grief, not darkness if he should fail to obtain the gain from the work; but he becomes, for others what the belly is god, so for him is gold. Whence the blessed Apostle, knowing this, called it not only the root of all evils, but also idolatry. Let us consider, therefore, to how much evil this disease drags a man, so that it even casts him into idolatry. For the avaricious man, having turned his mind from the love of God, loves the images of men engraved upon gold; and the monk, darkened by these thoughts and increasing toward the worse, D can no longer have any humility, any obedience, but is angry, and is indignant, and murmurs against every task, and contradicts, and with no reverence left, like a most unruly horse he is carried over the precipices, and, not content with his daily food, he finally testifies that he cannot bear it any longer; and he says that God is not only there, nor that his own salvation is enclosed in that place, but that God is to be found everywhere by those who seek Him; and that if he does not depart from that monastery he will perish.
A And thus, having as a helper in this corruption the money he has set aside, he is, as it were, lifted up on wings, and as he meditates on his departure from the monastery, he thenceforth answers all instructions with pride and harshness. Reckoning himself a stranger and an alien, if he sees anything in the monastery in need of correction, he ignores and despises it. Then he seeks out pretexts by which he may become angry or offended, so that he may not appear to be leaving the cenobium lightly and without cause. Nor does he hesitate to act in such a way as to find an accomplice for his own wrongdoing. Thus, the lover of money, seduced by the fire of his own funds, can never rest in a monastery or live under a rule. When the demon snatches him like a wolf from the fold and, having separated him from the flock, takes him as ready for devouring, he then sees to it that he performs with great eagerness, night and day in his cell, the very works that he B altogether neglected at the appointed hours in the cenobium; and he permits him to observe neither the custom of prayers, nor the manner of fasting, nor the rule of vigils, but, having bound him with the madness of avarice, persuades him to devote all his zeal and all his labor to his manual work.
(96) There are, however, three ways of this disease, equally forbidden by the divine Scriptures and the teachings of the Fathers. The first, which we have described above, is that which drives the wretched to acquire and amass things they did not even possess in the world. The second is that which causes those who have once renounced their money to repent, persuading them to seek back what they offered to God. The third is that which, having bound the monk from the beginning in the lukewarmness of unbelief, does not allow him to renounce worldly things perfectly, casting into his mind fear of poverty and distrust of God’s providence, and showing him to be a violator of the promises he made when he renounced the world.
We find the examples of these three ways hidden in divine Scripture. For Gehazi, because he coveted C money he had not possessed before, was deprived of the prophetic grace that his master wished to leave to him in place of an inheritance; and instead of a blessing, he inherited, through the prophet's curse, an eternal leprosy. And Judas, wishing to receive money which he had previously cast aside in order to follow the Lord, not only, by setting his mind on the betrayal of the Master, was cast out from the choir of the apostles, but he also ended his own life in the flesh by a violent death. Ananias and Sapphira, having reserved some of the things they had consecrated to the Lord, were punished with death by the apostolic mouth. And the great Moses in Deuteronomy gives a mystical command to those who are about to renounce the world, and who, through fear and unbelief, still cling to earthly things: "If any man be D fearful and fainthearted, let him not go out to battle: let him go, and return unto his house, lest he make his brethren's hearts to faint as well as his heart." Is there anything more secure or more clear than this testimony? Do we not learn from these words that those who renounce the world
must renounce it completely, and thus proceed to the war, lest perhaps from a soft and corrupt beginning we divert others from Evangelical perfection?
Since, however, certain people misinterpret that which is well said in Scripture: "It is more blessed to give than to receive," and force the meaning of the word to their own deception and to the lust of avarice, twisting the intent of that statement and also the teaching of the Lord which says: "If you wish to be perfect, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me," and judge the possession of riches to be more blessed than poverty, and that they themselves can give to those in need out of such an abundance; let such men know that they have not yet renounced the world, nor do they walk in monastic perfection, as long as they are ashamed to take up, for Christ’s sake, the glorious poverty with the Apostle, and to serve both themselves and those in need by the labor of their hands.
But if they desire to fulfill the monastic promise in deed, and to be glorified with the Apostle after having distributed their former riches, let them fight the good fight with Paul in hunger, thirst, and nakedness. For if that same Apostle had known the possession of former wealth to be more necessary for perfection, he would not have despised his former status; for he testifies that he was an eminent man and a Roman citizen. Furthermore, those in Jerusalem who sold their houses and their fields and laid [them] at the feet of the apostles would not have done this had they known the apostles to consider it more blessed to be nourished by their own money than by their own labor and the work of their hands.
The aforementioned Apostle teaches this more clearly in what he writes to the Romans: "But now I am setting out for Jerusalem to minister to the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem." Now he, B being bound, and frequently in prisons, and subjected to the hardships of travel, and being hindered by this from preparing for himself the things he needed with his own hands, as was his custom, teaches that he had received these things from the brothers who had come to him from Macedonia, saying: "For the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what was lacking to me." And to the Philippians: "That in the beginning of the Gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you alone: for even in Thessalonica once and twice you sent for my need."
Let the avaricious, therefore, according to their own opinion, be more blessed than the Apostle, since they are provided with what they need from their own substance. But no one, unless he had fallen into extreme madness, would have dared to assert this. If, therefore, we wish to follow the evangelical and apostolic precept, and the entire Church as it was founded upon the apostles from the beginning; let not the opinion C—
A of the covetous be preferred to that of the Apostle, since he used to provide for their needs from his own possessions. But no one coming to the final degree of folly would dare to say this. If, therefore, we wish to follow the evangelical and apostolic precept, and all that Church which from the beginning was founded upon the apostles, let us not be persuaded by our own suppositions, nor understand ill what has been well said; but casting away a lukewarm and faithless opinion, let us take up the precision of the Gospel. For thus we shall be able to follow the footsteps of the holy Fathers, and never depart from the knowledge of the cenobium, and in truth renounce this world. It is good, moreover, to mention here the word of the holy Fathers. There is current, then, a discourse of holy Basil, bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, to a certain senator who had renounced the world lukewarmly and had kept back some of his own money, a saying of this sort: "You have both lost the senator and failed to make a monk." B It is necessary, therefore, with all diligence to cut out from our soul the root and beginning of all evils, which is covetousness; knowing securely that, while the root remains, the branches sprout, and that it is difficult to accomplish virtue unless we live in a cenobium. For in it we are not even anxious about necessary things. Having before our eyes the condemnation of Ananias and Sapphira, let us shudder to reserve for ourselves anything of our former property. Likewise, let us fear the example of Gehazi, who for the sake of covetousness was delivered up to eternal leprosy. Let us beware of accumulating for ourselves the money of this life, which we did not possess even in this world. Let us fear likewise, considering in ourselves the death of Judas by the noose, lest we keep back anything from all those things which we renounced with contempt. C Having always, before all these things, before our eyes the uncertain hour of death, let us beware, lest at the hour we do not think, the Lord should come and find our conscience stained by covetousness, and say to us what was said in the Gospel to that rich man: "Fool, this night they require your soul from you; and the things which you have prepared, whose will they be?" 4. The fourth struggle for us is against the spirit of anger, so that with God we may cut out its deadly poison from the depths of our soul. For when it is lodged within our heart D and blinds the eye of the mind with dark tumults, we are able to have no discretion of the things that are profitable to us, nor to find a grasp of spiritual knowledge, nor to become partakers of true life, nor will our mind become capable of the contemplation of the divine and true light. For, "My eye," he says, "is troubled by anger." Nor shall we be partakers of wisdom, even if we seem wise to ourselves, since it is written: "Anger will reside in the bosom of fools." But neither are we able to attain the saving rays of discernment, even if we are considered very wise by men; for it is written: "Anger, even in prudent men"
brings ruin," A nor can we hold the reins of justice with a sober heart; for it is written: "The anger of man does not accomplish the righteousness of God." Nor are we able to acquire the modesty and seemliness praised by all, since it is written: "A passionate man is not seemly." Whoever, therefore, wishes to attain perfection and desires to engage lawfully in the spiritual contest, let him be a stranger to every failing of anger and passion, and let him hear what that chosen vessel himself commands, saying: "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and blasphemy be removed from you, with all malice." By saying "all," he has left us no excuse for anger as being either necessary or reasonable.
Whoever, therefore, wishes to correct an erring brother or to offer a reproof, let him be diligent to B keep himself free from agitation and disturbance, lest, while wishing to heal another, he draws the disease upon himself, and that evangelical saying be directed at him: "Physician, heal yourself." And again: "Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the beam in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck out of your eye,' while you have the beam in your own eye, which covers it?" For from whatever cause the impulse of anger boils over, it blinds the eyes of the soul and does not allow the man to look upon the Sun of righteousness. For just as he who places gold or leaden plates upon his eyes equally hinders the faculty of sight, and the preciousness of the gold makes no difference in the blindness; so, from whatever cause the motion of anger is kindled, it overshadows the faculty of sight of the soul.
(7) Only then do we use indignation according to nature, when C we move it against vicious and voluptuous thoughts. For the prophet David teaches us this, saying: "Be angry, and do not sin;" that is, move anger against your own passions and against wicked thoughts, and do not sin by doing what is suggested by them. The following passage clearly declares this interpretation: "What you say," he says, "in your hearts, be pricked in your beds;" that is, when wicked thoughts ascend into your heart, cast them out by inciting your anger against them, and after they have been cast out, as if in a bed or in stillness, then be pricked unto repentance.
The blessed Paul agrees with these things, having used the testimony of this verse and added: "Let not the sun go down on your wrath, do not give room to the devil;" D that is, by consenting to wicked thoughts, provoking Christ, the Sun of righteousness, do not cause Him to set in your hearts, so that by His departure the devil may find room in you. (8) Regarding this Sun, God says through the prophet: "To those who fear My name, the Sun of righteousness shall arise, and there will be healing in His wings."
A If, however, we should take the statement according to the letter, it is not permitted to us to preserve anger even until the setting of the sun. What then shall we say about those who, corrupted by the savagery and madness of passionate disposition, not only preserve their anger until the setting of this sun, but prolong it for many days, refraining from mutual conversation; and while they no longer express their wrath through words, they preserve silence toward each other, kindling the poison of the memory of injuries for their own destruction? They are ignorant that one must abstain not only from sin that is perpetrated in act, but also from that which is conceived in the mind, lest the mind, darkened by the gloom of the memory of injuries, fall away from the light of knowledge and discernment, and be deprived of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. B For this reason, the Lord also commands in the Gospels that the gift be left upon the altar and reconciliation be sought with one's brother, since it is impossible for the gift to be acceptable while we are occupied with anger and the memory of injuries. But when the Apostle says that one ought to pray without ceasing, and in every place lift up holy hands, without anger and thoughts of resentment, he teaches us that this must be done. It remains, therefore, either that we never pray—and thus become subject to the Apostolic precept—or, if we take care to keep the commandments, that we do so without anger and the memory of injuries. And since it often happens that when brothers are saddened or disturbed, we despise the matter and say that we are not the cause of their being saddened, the Physician of souls, desiring to uproot the occasions of anger from our heart, commands us not only to leave the gift and be reconciled if we ourselves are saddened and angry at our brother, but also, if he himself is saddened toward us, justly or unjustly, to appease his anger through an apology, and only then offer the gift. C But why do we linger longer on the evangelical and apostolic commandments, when it is permitted to learn this from the Old Law as well? For that law, even though it seems to deviate from that severity and to accommodate itself, says as follows: "Do not hate your brother in your heart." And again: "The paths of those who hold the memory of injuries lead to death." For in this place also, it forbids and chastises not only that anger which breaks forth into action, but also that which is retained in the mind. Therefore, it behooves us, clinging to divine laws, to struggle with all our strength against the spirit of anger and against that disease situated within us, and not to stir up anger against men and thereby pursue solitude and separation, so that, because no one is present there to incite us to wrath, the virtue of equanimity might be easily exercised in solitude. D For it comes about through pride, and because we do not wish to accuse ourselves and ascribe the causes of our anger to our own sloth, that we desire to be separated from our brothers. As long, therefore, as we impute the causes of our weakness to others
it is impossible for us to reach the perfection of long-suffering. For the chief point of our correction is not achieved by the long-suffering of our neighbors toward us, but by our own long-suffering and forbearance toward our neighbor. Whenever we flee the struggle of long-suffering and pursue the desert and solitude, whatever uncontrolled passions we carry there remain hidden, not eradicated. Indeed, the desert and withdrawal know how not only to store up the defects of those who are not yet freed from their passions, but also to conceal them. It does not even permit them to perceive by what passion they are being overcome; on the contrary, it subjects them to illusions, persuading them that they have achieved both long-suffering and humility, as long as no one is present to provoke and test them. But when an occasion happens that stirs and exercises them, the hidden and previously concealed passions, like unbridled horses leaping from their stalls—having been fed by long rest and idleness—throw their rider into destruction more violently and savagely. For passions in idleness, when not provoked by people, become more savage in us, and we lose even that shadow of patience and long-suffering which we seem to possess in a figurative sense, by the negligence of not practicing it while mixed among our brothers, and by the lack of training in solitude. B For just as poisonous beasts in the wilderness, resting in their own lairs, demonstrate their own madness when they catch someone approaching, so too those subject to passions, resting not by a disposition of virtue but by the necessity of the desert place, then vomit forth the poison of their soul when they have seized upon someone approaching and irritating them. For this reason, those who seek the perfection of gentleness ought to be diligent not only not to be angry at men, but neither at brute beasts, nor even at inanimate things. For I remember when I was living in the desert, having stirred up anger against a reed, because its thickness or thinness displeased me; and again against a piece of wood, when I wanted to cut it and could not do so quickly; and again against a spark-producing flint, when, as I was in a hurry to strike fire, the spark did not immediately leap out—so does anger rage, that it is carried even against insensate and inanimate things. C If, therefore, we desire to obtain the beatitude of Christ, we ought to restrain not only the anger that breaks forth into action, as was said above, but also that which is conceived in the mind. For it does not bring as much benefit to restrain one's mouth and not bring forth any furious word, as it does to cleanse the heart from the memory of injuries and not to harbor wicked thoughts. For evangelical doctrine teaches that it is necessary to cut out the roots of sins, rather than the branches. For if the root of anger is cut from the heart, no hatred, no envy will ever be brought to action: for he who hates his brother is a murderer, in the sense that he kills him by the affection of hatred. D
God looks upon him who has been killed, whose blood, though not shed by the sword, is seen by men, but he was killed by the affection of hatred. God, therefore, will render crowns or punishments to each individual not only for actions, but also for thoughts and intentions, as He Himself says through the prophet: "I am coming to gather together their works, thoughts, and meditations." And again the Apostle says: "Their thoughts alternatively accusing or even defending them, on the day when God will judge the hidden things of men." A And the Lord Himself, teaching us that we ought to put aside all anger, says in the Gospels: "Whosoever is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment." For so the accurate copies contain; for the word "rashly" was added as an interpolation, and this is evident from the preceding clause of Scripture. For the aim of the Lord is to make us cut off the root and spark of anger completely, and not to preserve the slightest occasion for anger within us, so that we might not, by being moved to anger for what we suppose to be a reasonable cause, eventually fall into the madness of irrational fury. B The perfect remedy for this malady is this: that we be persuaded that it is not permitted for us to stir up our indignation for any cause, whether just or unjust. For if the spirit of anger obscures our mind, neither the light of discernment, nor the rudder of right counsel and justice will be found in us, nor can it be possible, with the spirit of anger dominating, for our soul to be made a temple of the Holy Spirit. Finally, it is necessary that, having the uncertain hour of death before our eyes, we keep ourselves from anger, and know that neither asceticism, nor temperance, nor the renunciation of all material things, nor fasts and vigils will be of any use to us if, seized by anger and hatred, we are found liable to judgment. From which may we be freed by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. C
5. (18) The fifth conflict for us is against the spirit of sadness, which obscures the soul so that it can attend to no spiritual contemplation, and prevents it from every good work. For when this wicked spirit has seized the soul and darkened it completely, it does not allow one to offer up prayers with alacrity, nor to attend to the utility of sacred readings, nor does it allow one to be mild and sociable toward one's brothers, and it suggests a hatred toward all pursuits of zeal and toward the very profession of life itself. D Since sadness confuses all the salutary counsels of the soul and loosens its firmness and perseverance, it renders it, as it were, foolish and stunned, and
binds it at last with the thought of desperation. A Therefore, let there be one goal for us: to engage in the spiritual contest, to overcome with God the spirits of wickedness, and with all vigilance to guard our heart from the spirit of sadness. For just as a moth consumes a garment and a worm wood, so does sadness gnaw at the soul of man, persuading it to turn away from every wholesome association and not allowing it to receive counsel from true friends, nor permitting it to give them a kind or peaceful response. Instead, it troubles the whole soul and fills it with bitterness and listlessness (acedia); and finally, it suggests that it should flee from people, as if they were the cause of its disturbance, and it does not allow the soul to recognize that its disease is not located outside, but within, and that it only becomes manifest when the temptations that arise bring it into the open through the exercises of life. B For a person is never harmed by another unless he has the disease—that is, the causes of the passions—stored up within himself. For this reason, God, the Creator of all and the Physician of souls, who alone knows the wounds of the soul precisely and accurately, does not command us to abandon the company of men, but to cut out the causes of evil within us, knowing that the cause of the soul's health is not attained by separation from people, but in the association and training of life with them. When, therefore, we leave our brothers on the pretext of certain seemingly valid reasons, we have not cut off the occasions for sadness, but have merely exchanged them, since the disease remains within, stirring them up according to the circumstances of events. C For this reason, let our entire war be directed against our internal passions. For once these have been cast out by the cooperation of God, I do not say that we will easily dwell with men, but even with wild beasts, according to the word of the blessed Job: "And the wild beasts shall be at peace with you." Therefore, we must fight first of all against the spirit of sadness, which casts the soul into despair, so that we may drive it out of our heart. For this did not allow Cain to repent after the fratricide, nor Judas after the betrayal of the Lord. Let us practice only that sadness which concerns the repentance for sins, which is joined with a good hope and which conciliates the possession of heavenly goods; concerning which the Apostle said: "For sorrow according to God..." D Therefore, that sadness which feeds the soul with the hope of repentance is mixed with joy; wherefore it makes a man eager and obedient to every good work, and also easy of approach and humble.
[Hic deest unum folium, scilicet quod superest adversus tristitiæ spiritum, et initium eorum quæ dicuntur de torporis spiritu.]
....6. Let them eat bread. Let us listen to how wisely the Apostle points out to us the causes of listlessness (acedia). For he calls those who do not work "inquietos" (disorderly/restless); to this one point...
A he adds a great deal of malice. B For he who is idle is also reckless in his speech, ready for railing, and subsequently unfit for a quiet life, and a slave to listlessness. He commands, therefore, that we withdraw, that is, separate ourselves from him as from a contagious disease. Then what does he say? "And not according to the tradition which they received from us"; by this expression he shows them to be arrogant, contemptuous, and violators of apostolic traditions. And again: "Neither, he says, did we eat any man's bread for nothing, but in labor and in weariness, night and day working, that we might not burden any of you." That teacher of the nations, that herald of the Gospel, he who was caught up even to the third heaven, who says that the Lord ordained that those who preach the Gospel should live by the Gospel, worked in labor night and day so as not to burden anyone. What, therefore, shall we do, we who turn away from work on account of listlessness and seek after bodily rest, to whom neither the preaching of the Gospel nor the care of the Churches has been entrusted, but only the care of our own soul is incumbent? C Then, showing more clearly how much harm arises from idleness, he adds: "Working not at all, but curiously meddling." From idleness arises disorder, and from disorder all malice. Then, preparing for this a remedy, he says: "Now we charge such persons, and exhort them in the Lord Jesus Christ, that working with silence, they would eat their own bread," and with great rebuke he adds: "If any man will not work, neither let him eat." D Instructed by these apostolic precepts, the holy Egyptian Fathers do not permit the monks to be idle for even the briefest time, especially the younger ones, knowing that through the patience of work they drive away listlessness, provide their own food, and assist those in need. For they do not work only for their own necessities, but they also provide out of their own labor necessary things for strangers, for the poor, for those committed to prison, and for all who are in need, believing such service to be a sacrifice acceptable to God. The Fathers also say this: that he who works struggles with one demon, and is often buffeted by him; but the idle man is held captive by countless spirits. Moreover, it is worth while to mention the word of Abba Moses, the most esteemed among the Fathers, which he spoke to me. For when I had been sitting in the desert for a short time, I was afflicted by listlessness, and I approached him and spoke to him thus: "Gravely afflicted by listlessness and greatly weakened, I was not freed from it until I went away and visited Abba Paul." Abba Moses replied to me: "Understand, that you have by no means freed yourself from it, but rather you have surrendered yourself to it as an indentured slave; know">
therefore that it will wage war upon you more severely, as a deserter, unless you henceforth strive to overcome it through patience, prayer, and the work of your hands."
7. A (27) Our seventh struggle is against the spirit of vainglory, a multiform and most subtle passion, which is not even comprehended by the one who is being tempted. For the assaults of other passions are more manifest, and they are fought with more easily; for the soul, when it recognizes the war, overcomes it by resisting and praying. But the malice of vainglory, being multiform, as has been said, is difficult to overcome. For it presents itself in every endeavor: in habit, in form, in gait, in speech, and in vigils, in fasts, in prayer, in reading, in stillness, B and in patience. For through all these things it attempts to pierce the soldier of Christ. For whomever it cannot deceive with luxurious clothing and turn toward vainglory, it attempts to tempt with cheap attire. And whomever it could not puff up with honor, it puffs up to the point of folly with the patience of ignominy; whomever it could not lead to vainglory by means of knowledge, it attempts to deceive with silence, as if he were a man of stillness; whomever the sumptuousness of food could not draw to softness, it leads to the desire for praise through fasting. In short, every work and every endeavor provides the occasion for war to this demon.
(28) Beyond these things, he who is attacked by it C sometimes even imagines for himself an order of holy rank. I remember a certain elder, when I was living in Scete, who went to the cell of a certain brother for the sake of visiting him, and as he approached the door of the cell, he heard him speaking inside. And the elder, thinking he was reciting something from Scripture, stood listening, and he perceived that the brother was raving on account of vainglory, ordaining himself a deacon and giving the dismissal to the catechumens. When the elder heard this, he finally pushed the door and entered; and the brother, encountering him, saluted him according to custom and asked to learn from him if he had been at the door for a long time. But the elder wittily answered him: "I have just arrived," he said, "when you were performing the dismissal D for the catechumens." The brother, upon hearing these things, fell at the feet of the elder and begged him to pray for him so that he might be delivered from such a delusion. I have mentioned this desiring to show into what insanity this demon casts a man. Whoever, therefore, wishes to struggle perfectly and to be crowned with the crown of righteousness, let him strive in every way to overcome this multiform beast, always having before his eyes what was said by the holy David: "The Lord has scattered the bones of men-pleasers 94," and let him do nothing while looking about for praise from men, but let him seek the reward from God, and let him always cast away the thoughts of his own praise that invade his heart, and let him despise himself in the sight of God. For in this way, he will be able, with God's help, to be freed from the demon of vainglory.
by the grace of our Lord Jesus, to whom be glory forever. Amen. Always casting out the thoughts that come into the heart and praise him, let him humble himself before God. For thus, by the grace of our Lord Jesus, he will be able A with God to be rid of the demon of vainglory, to whom be glory forever. Amen.
8. (29) The eighth struggle for us is against the spirit of pride; this is the most grievous and fiercer than all the previous ones, attacking especially the perfect, and it attempts to overthrow even those who have almost reached the height of virtues; and like a pestilential disease, it does not destroy a part of the body, but the whole. And while each of the other passions, although it disturbs the soul, yet because it fights against only one virtue opposed to it and strives to overcome that alone, it darkens and disturbs the soul only in part; the passion of pride, however, shrouds the whole soul in darkness and leads it to the ultimate ruin. And that we may understand what has been said more clearly, let us consider the matter in this way. The vice of gluttony strives to corrupt fasting; fornication, continence; avarice, poverty; anger, gentleness; and the other species of malice, their opposing virtues. But the malice of pride, when B it dominates the wretched soul, acts no differently than some most cruel tyrant who, having captured a great and lofty city, destroys it entirely and tears it down to the foundations. And witness to this is the angel who fell from heaven because of pride; who, having been created by God and adorned with every virtue and wisdom, would not ascribe these to the grace of the Lord, but to his own nature: whence he thought himself equal to God; which thought of his the prophet confuting says: "You said in your heart: I will sit on an exalted mountain, I will place my throne above the clouds, and I will be like the Most High. But you are a man, and not God." And another prophet says: "Why do you boast in malice, O mighty one?" And after a few words: "You have loved all words of destruction, a deceitful tongue. Therefore God will destroy you forever, he will pluck you up and remove you from your tabernacle, and your root from the land of the living. The just will see and will fear, and will laugh at him and say: Behold the man who did not set God as his helper, but trusted in the abundance of his vanity." Knowing these things, then, let us fear, and with all custody guard our own heart C from the lethal spirit of pride, repeating to ourselves the words of the Apostle when we have accomplished some work of virtue: "Yet not I, but the grace of God which is with me." And that which was said by the Lord: "Without me you can do nothing." And that which was said by the Prophet: "Unless the Lord build the house, in vain have they labored who build it." And again: "It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy." For even if someone is fervent with eagerness and diligent in purpose, but is bound by flesh D and blood, he will not be able to arrive at perfection, unless to all this, by the mercy and in
and blood, he shall not be able to reach perfection, unless, besides all these things, he hopes in the mercy of Christ and in His grace. For according to the divine James, "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights." And the Apostle says: "For what have you that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?"—but you are puffed up over alien gifts as if they were your own. That salvation comes to us by the grace and mercy of God, that thief is the witness, who did not attain the kingdom of heaven as a reward for virtue, but by the grace and mercy of God. Our Fathers, knowing this well, have all with one mind delivered that we cannot lay a firm foundation for the perfection of virtue, except through humility, which naturally proceeds from faith, meekness, and perfect poverty, through which perfect charity is attained, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father be glory, with the Holy Spirit, for ever. Amen. A B
HOMILIES WHICH ARE CIRCULATED UNDER THE NAME OF ATHANASIUS
ADMONITION TO THE FOLLOWING HOMILY
No one will think this homily is by Athanasius, so much does it differ from the style, gravity, and elegance of Athanasius: nay, as one may conjecture from the kind of speech and the usage of words, it was written many centuries after Athanasius; for very many compound words occur here which approach the lowest level of Greek. Finally, this homily smacks more of the garrulity of the Greeks of a later age than of the eloquence of the ancient Fathers.
OF OUR FATHER AMONG THE SAINTS ATHANASIUS
On the birthday of the Forerunner, and on Elisabeth, and on the Theotokos (30).
S. P. N. ATHANASIUS
On the birth of the Forerunner, in Elisabeth, and in the Mother of God.
1. A land which has been left empty and abandoned to become a trodden path for wild beasts is furrowed by the toil of the plowing ox; for the longer the land has remained untilled, the more the ox standing ready for plowing is bent in more laborious toil, wearing down his neck beneath the yoke. But a woman who has become sterile and aged through long passage of time, and has fallen into two evils, namely sterility and weakness—sterility, I say, of nature, and weakness of old age—is, by a word and not by labor, freed and renewed by the Creator of nature, God the Word, from the old age of the body, and from sterility indeed