SERMO PRO IIS QUI SÆCULO RENUNTIARUNT
MONITUM
Hoc item opusculum Roma nobis missum est, de quo hæc notat qui exscripsit. Mss. codex Græcus num. 658, membranaceus et in-12, eleganti manu exaratus, videtur habere cccc annos et est bibliothecæ Vaticanæ. Inter alia continet, p. 130, sequentem tractatum attributum sancto Athanasio. At est ignoti cujusdam et Athanasio longe inferioris scriptoris opus, ut primo aspectu advertet eruditus lector.
OF OUR HOLY FATHER ATHANASIUS THE GREAT, PATRIARCH OF ALEXANDRIA. A discourse A full of discernment regarding the commandments of God, for those who have renounced the world and wish to attain salvation.
1. Beloved, let us take thought for our salvation, for the time is henceforth constrained, and no one can care for his own soul as long as he cares for the things of the body. For just as a person cannot look with one eye to heaven and with the other to the earth, so a person cannot take thought for the things of God and the things of the body. Just as a spring cannot from the same opening bring forth sweet and bitter water, so a person cannot please God and fulfill the desires of the flesh. Just as a thorn-bush cannot yield the fruit of an olive, so a person cannot seek the things of heaven and yet crave the things of earth, as the Lord says: "You cannot please God and fulfill the desires of the flesh." Wherefore, also the apostle Paul, having heard these things and having cut away from himself all the promptings of the flesh, says: "For whom I have suffered the loss of all things, that I may win Christ," and reign with Him. "Having food and covering, with these let us be content. For they who wish to be rich fall into temptation, and into the snare of the devil, and into foolish desires."
2. But you, O brother, do not apply your mind to this world, that you may be able to be saved, but practice justice, and truth, and love, and the fear of the Lord, and gentleness, obedience, and temperance, and the forgetting of injuries. Hate worldly words, that your heart may behold the Good. Love constant prayer, that your heart may be enlightened. Distribute to those in need with a bountiful eye, that you may not be put to shame before the tribunal of Christ; hate the desire for foods, C lest that Amalek of the passions surround you. Be watchful and alert in your prayers, that the beast may not devour you. Flee from wine, that you may not be deprived of the joy of God. Love the faithful, that through them you may distribute alms. Love the saints, that...
their zeal may draw you toward virtue. Remember the departure of your soul, and you will not sin much against God; always remember the kingdom of heaven, that desire for it may draw you toward it; consider the gehenna of fire and the cruel torments, that you may hate evil deeds. Prepare yourself, therefore, daily to meet Christ; for He is to come invisibly. Examine yourself daily, and inquire whether you have neglected any of Christ's commandments, and fulfill it. Let your brothers see your works, and that zeal which is according to God will consume them. Examine yourself daily, and weigh what passion you have mortified, and give glory to God, for mercy is His. Do not consider yourself as having done good before God, for He says: "When you have done all things, then say: We are useless servants." B Do not be arrogant because you are now good; for you cannot trust yourself against your enemies.
3. Do not trust in your own body. It is clear that he who fears the demons does not have the fear of God in him. For he who fears God with his whole heart is firm against them. He who does not measure himself, but keeps himself unknown, proves to a man that he does not seek to do his own will, but that of God. He who sets forth and manifests his own word to many, demonstrates thereby that the fear of God is not in him. He who wishes to be saved will have leisure for God, and will trample upon the passions. Care and solicitude in thoughts put the passions to flight; for it is written: "Care will come upon a wise man." As sloth is a help to the passions, so equanimity C and tolerance are the strength of the virtues. To judge no one is a most powerful wall; but to blame and backbite casts the soul into perdition. To be able to restrain one's tongue makes it manifest that a man is exercised in the virtues; but an unbridled tongue proves that a man is not inwardly endowed with virtue. Mercy, which exists in the mind and thought, produces the capacity for foresight and leads to charity; but an unmerciful mind produces inhumanity. The mother of the virtues is compassion; but the fulfillment of evils is insubordination. Goodness produces chastity, irascibility produces disordered impulses. Hardness of heart gives birth to anger; sloth gives birth to indigence. Excessive sleep produces a tumult of the affections; but the salvation of the soul is moderate vigils. Excessive sleep excites a crowd of phantasms; D but the flower of the mind is vigilance in prayer. Much sleep dulls the heart, but vigils excite it. I mean those vigils that are performed according to God, with psalms, and hymns, and spiritual canticles. For to those who spend their vigils in gossiping and babbling, it is better to sleep in silence.
4. Mourning puts the passions to flight; laughter separates one from God. Not to strike a man produces humility; but the glory of men gives birth to pride.
A Gentleness begets meekness; but the remembrance of injuries begets destruction. Dissolution drives away virtues; limitation suppresses the passions. The desire for food leads into evil affections; temperance casts them out. Cultivation of the body is death to the soul; but the emaciation of the body is the renewal of the soul. Contempt for the body is the salvation of the soul; but care for the body is a snare for the soul. The emaciation of the body is the illumination of the soul. To keep the mind fixed on things above at all times produces love towards God; but solicitous concern for the life of the world drives away the virtues. To guard the mouth excites the understanding towards God; but much speaking begets listlessness and madness. To do the will of one’s neighbor signifies that the mind B is looking towards the virtues; but to do one’s own will signifies ignorance. Meditation in fear guards the soul from every evil; but to speak of worldly things darkens the soul. To love the material things of the world separates the mind from God; but lack of possessions allows one to look upon God with boldness. Not to disclose one’s thoughts indicates that a man is seeking the vain and shameful glory of this world; but to disclose them to spiritual fathers drives them away. Just as iron is eaten away by rust, so the monk is eaten away by the glory of men, if his heart consents to it. Just as a worm, or a bindweed, entangled in a vine, destroys its fruit, so vain glory destroys the fruit of the monk, if his heart consents to it. Before all the virtues is humility; and before all the passions is gluttony. The end of the virtues is charity; the fulfillment of evils is to deem oneself righteous. 5. C Just as a worm eating into wood destroys it, so the remembrance of injuries destroys the soul of the monk. To cast oneself down before the sight of God brings about the ability to endure insults without disturbance; but not to despise oneself gives birth to pride. Do not be confident in your own strength, and the help of God will dwell with you. Do not have enmity with anyone, since your prayer will not be accepted. Love truth; for he who lies renders the good of no effect. Guard your eyes, and your heart shall not see evil. For he who looks upon a woman with desire commits adultery. Guard your ears, so that you do not gather into yourself every evil seed. Flee from the detraction of the most wicked demon, and be at peace with all, so that you may have boldness in prayer. Do not desire to hear of any harm or grief concerning anyone, so that you do not return it in your heart. Labor at your handiwork, so that the beggar may find bread; for idleness is death to the soul. D Fraying and continuous prayer delivers the soul from every evil; but to be negligent in little things is to establish a dwelling-place for demons. Sitting in your cell, be solicitous and constant regarding these things: prayer, meditation, and handiwork. Every day, remember where you are, and what you are doing, and when you depart, where you must go, and watch over yourself. If your thought suggests to you that someone has something against you,
A do not despise him, but offer him B repentance.
6. Do not neglect to perform your services at every hour; for they bring illumination to the soul. If you have done good, do not boast; but if you have done many evil things, do not grieve immoderately, but stand firm, do not do them again, and you shall be saved. If a thought of fornication harasses you, offer unceasing prayer to God, and He will grant you rest. If zeal and envy assault your heart, remember that we are all members of Christ, and that the honor and the disgrace of one's neighbor belongs to us all, and envy will flee from you. Discretion, gathering all these things and taking them into account, will acquire for itself the virtues and cast the evil things out of its way. But it is impossible for discretion to come to you unless you first perform its virtues, and above all, tranquility. Tranquility brings forth asceticism; asceticism brings forth compunction and tears; tears bring forth fear; fear brings forth humility; humility brings forth the faculty of discernment; the faculty of discernment brings forth love; love prepares the soul to converse with the angels. Then at last does man realize how far he is from God. Whoever therefore wishes, brethren, to arrive at all these precious virtues, must be free from the care of any business, and must hate this world; and only then is he deemed worthy to obtain these virtues from the Lord.
7. Learn this, brother, that anyone who eats and drinks without measure, or is entangled in this world, is not deemed worthy to arrive at these bounds. For if you have possessions and a vineyard, or houses, or anything else of this age, why have you not also taken a wife? Why do you deceive yourself, ignorant that he who is sown among thorns does not bring forth perfect fruit? Furthermore, he who is idle cannot know God. I also advise every man who wishes to offer his repentance to God, to restrain himself from drinking too much wine: for many are the falls resulting from this. Do not, therefore, consider the battle and grow fearful, as long as you are in this body, nor trust in yourself. Let us stand, therefore, brethren, let us stand in the fear of the Lord, and let us not faint in the battle. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness of this age, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephes. VI, 12). Let us put on the armor of virtues as soldiers; because labor and toil, and distress, and narrowness, and the serenity of desires do not only guard us from the arrows of the enemy, but also establish us as heirs of the kingdom of heaven.
8. Let us therefore struggle, brethren, during this short time, so that we may obtain the kingdom of heaven. For our Master Jesus Christ has said thus: “Strive until you come through the narrow gate and the constricted way.” Watch therefore at every hour, for you do not know when the Lord comes.
A at which hour the Lord is to come, lest He enter suddenly and find you sleeping. See to it that your hearts are not weighed down by debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of this life, and the hour fall upon you suddenly. Behold, I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves. Do not possess gold, nor silver, nor two tunics; nor be afraid of those who kill the body. For I saw Satan falling like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you the power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy, and they shall not harm you. The Lord has bestowed this not only upon the apostles themselves, but also upon all who wish to be saved and to follow His commandments. And observe, you who argue against this, the myriads of saints. For He gave us the power to become children of God. “Fear not, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom of heaven. Sell what you possess and give alms, and you shall have purses that do not grow old, an unfailing treasure in the heavens.” B And when His holy disciples had fulfilled this commandment of His, He said to them: “My peace I give to you, My peace I leave with you.” For “he who loves Me will keep My commandments; and I and the Father will come, and we will make our abode with him.”
9. As one who instructs us to endure temptations and struggles with nobility, He has said: “In the world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” “You are they who have continued with Me in My temptations, and I appoint for you, as My Father has appointed for Me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at My table.” C He says these things not to all, but to those who endure temptations and afflictions with long-suffering. When the Lord was going to the holy passion of the cross, He said thus: “Whoever wishes to eat and drink at My table, let him journey with Me to the cross”; that is, let him also be dead to the world, as I am, through the practice of My commandments. Hearing this, the apostle Paul, having cut away all the impulses of the flesh, dared to say: “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me.” For so long as we walk according to the flesh, we are dead to sins. For he says: “Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts.” And if we die with Him, we shall also live with Him. If we endure, we shall also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He also will deny us. Who then is the one who denies Him, if not the one who walks according to the lusts of the flesh? For this is the one who insults baptism. And who among us is there who has not insulted baptism through the various machinations of the evil one? But because of His great love with which He loved us, our Lord Jesus D Christ has given us