Saint Anthony the Great, Abbot

he attempts to entrap the unwary minds of human kind. ^A There follows the sermon *On the Vanity of the World and the Resurrection of the Dead*, which was edited at Mainz in the year 1604 from an ancient Latin manuscript codex of Aldus Manutius by Gerard Vossius of Tongeren, provost, among the *Miscellanea of the Holy Fathers*, and appended to the *Works of St. Gregory Thaumaturgus*. To these two [sermons] we have added twenty other sermons *On Virtues and Vices*, brief indeed, but filled with heavenly doctrine; these are handed down as having been delivered by the holy Father to his monastic sons. These were translated into Latin from an Arabic manuscript codex by Abraham Ecchellensis the Maronite, and published in Paris in the year 1646, along with other monuments of Christian piety that we shall soon enumerate. That learned translator, however, wisely advises the reader in his Preface that these and other spiritual documents of this kind can by no means be proven to have been written by the most holy abbot by any arguments or certain testimonies, except by the single tradition and universal consensus of all the monks of the East: for the concurrence of all of them in concocting something in common seems impossible, especially since those eastern monks belong to various sects and consequently have various persuasions regarding religion—as are the Melkites, Jacobites, Nestorians, Copts, Ethiopians, Maronites, and others.

^{B C} IV. *Of the Seven Epistles, first written in Egyptian, then rendered into Latin from the Greek version. Their authority proven. The editions reviewed.* Sermons are succeeded by the Epistles; seven of which, as Jerome testifies (a), of apostolic sense and discourse, Anthony sent in Egyptian to various monasteries, which were subsequently translated into the Greek language; and the chief of these is the one to the Arsinoites. To Jerome is added an uncertain Greek author *On the Deeds and Sayings of the Elders*, whose work is reviewed by Photius (b): it exists also rendered into Latin (c), by the interpreter Pelagius, deacon of the Holy Roman Church; regarding whose work and translation Sigebert also speaks (d). And so that anonymous writer says (e): "Abbot Anthony said: I estimate that the body has a natural motion intermingled within itself, etc." Which passage indeed occurs complete in the First Antonian Epistle, § 4, as we have noted at that place. Who, then, could justly doubt the sincerity of these Epistles, confirmed by so many and such great witnesses? Thus, indeed, Bivarius (f), from whom alone we have received these things, [concludes them to have been] clearly unknown to Tillemont, Fabricius, and other learned men. ^D Now, we possess these seven Epistles only in Latin, rendered from the Greek by Valerius Sarasius; to whom, however, success was not very fortunate in his rather intricate translation. Moreover, Symphorianus Champerius was the first to publish the Sarasian version at Paris in the year 1515, which afterwards, in the year 1536, Dionysius the Carthusian took care to have printed at Cologne, added to his own commentaries on the books of the Areopagite, fol. 369 sqq. From there, it was produced once and again at Basel in the years 1550, 1555, and 1569, both in the *Micropresbyticon* and in the *Orthodoxographa* of Herold and Grynaeus; and also in the *Bibliothecae Patrum* of Paris, Cologne, and Lyon: in which works, however, all the Antonian Epistles, if you except the first, are wrongly reported as having been sent to the Arsinoites; whereas, as we have just understood from the testimony of Jerome, it is discovered that only one—and that the principal one—was inscribed to the Arsinoites: and it is the second which alone is reported in the older editions, which we have inspected, as having been sent to the Arsinoites. Which error, occurring in the *Bibliothecae Patrum*, was first recognized and amended by Bivarius (g), who also included the first three Antonian epistles in his learned work *On the Ancient Monastic Life*, and simultaneously appended an exposition of them alongside. And we have judged that we should not act otherwise.

V. *Of the excellence of these Epistles. At what time they were written.* But it will be more appropriate to report what the first editor of these Epistles, Champerius, disclosed to us concerning them in a letter addressed to Hector Dallus, [then] protonotary of the Apostolic See, and prefixed to his edition. Thus, therefore, he [speaks]: "I have at last received," he says, "the letters I long desired from you, and with them the seven Epistles of the divine Father Anthony, which the holy Theodorus, arch-prelate of all the monastic order, had communicated; which you sent to me, at once written in Egyptian, and interpreted into Greek, and recently rendered into Latin by Valerius Sarasius. Whether I should admire their weight or their sweetness more, I do not know. For Anthony begins most aptly, narrates the stories of the prophets clearly, inveighs sharply, adorns with variety, embraces with art: so aptly, so ornately, so copiously, so beautifully did Anthony pray in his Epistles. What is more perfect than this Antonian oration? What more absolute? What [better] manner? What order? Never, my Hector, have I been equally delighted." So far he. ^C Now, it is found that the most blessed abbot wrote these Epistles when he was at a very advanced age, as he himself professes in these words (h): "Whence also I, even I, the most miserable [of men], who have inscribed this epistle, having been awakened from the sleep of death, consider that the very much time which I have had upon the earth has become [a time of] mourning and weeping, etc." Which he confirms again, while he testifies that Arius has emerged from the darkness into the world and has already begun to pour forth his poison, saying thus (i): "But concerning Arius, who has arisen in Alexandria, and speaks foreign words concerning the Only-Begotten, etc." Nay, even at the request of bishops and all the brothers...

he went to Alexandria to refute the Arians, who were falsely claiming that Anthony felt as they did, as we learn from Saint Athanasius.

VI. Twenty other Epistles are added, translated from Arabic into Latin by Abraham Ecchellensis: among which the first seven are included. What the learned think of them. What the remainder are, is briefly explained.

We have furthermore subjoined the twenty Epistles which the aforementioned Maronite, Abraham Ecchellensis, translated from Arabic and published at Paris in the year 1641. The first seven of these are the same as those we have just discussed, though in reverse order. But we have judged that these also should not be omitted, primarily on the grounds that the Arabic translator more than the Greek—or if you prefer, that the later translator, Ecchellensis, more than the previous one, Sarasius—seems to have expressed the holy Father’s sentiments more clearly. Regarding the value of the remaining thirteen, Combetis judges them to be most worthy of the genius and divine wisdom of blessed Anthony, a man truly

Θεοδίδακτος

The remaining items which follow, we present from the Paris edition of the year 1646 of the aforementioned Abraham Ecchellensis; who translated them all from a manuscript Arabic codex of the Maronite College in the City (Rome), from which he also transcribed the Epistles. However, we have omitted the Life of St. Anthony, which the same editor and translator excerpted from a codex entitled *The Key of the Gate of Paradise concerning the deeds of the monks*: since it is known to be filled with many fictions. Indeed, in the judgment of Renaudot, the Arab Christians possess very many histories of the life of St. Anthony; which, however, like almost all writings of that kind, are most polluted by fables and are of no value. Moreover, the ascetic works of Anthony the Great are also praised by Thomas, Bishop of Marga, who wrote a Monastic History in the Syrian tongue, and flourished under the patriarchs Abraham and Theodosius at the beginning of the ninth century, as the V.C. Assemani testifies.

THE LIFE OF ST. ANTHONY THE ABBOT,

As it is held in the Egyptian Martyrology under the day of the 22nd of the month Tube.

On this day rested the holy, the just, the star of the desert and father of all monks, the great Anthony. This saint was from the inhabitants of Caman, which is situated to the south of Memphis, born of Christian parents. Having completed twenty years, he was washed with sacred baptism. After the death of his parents, he expended all his wealth on the infirm and the poor; and he committed his only sister to the sacred virgins. He loved religious worship and solitude exceedingly; for the name of monkhood had not yet been promulgated at that time; but those who wished to betake themselves into solitude did not withdraw far from their homeland, so that they might devote themselves to religious worship, just as the great Anthony did in the beginning. There, the devils attacked ^B him with torpor, tedium, sloth, and the works of sin; and they induced before him the figure of a woman as if cohabiting with him. But he ^C overcame all these by the help of the Lord Christ, who was always present with him. After these things, he sought out a certain monument (tomb), and lived there, giving himself up immensely to the rites of religion. He closed the door of the place, but his friends visited him with food. Seeing this, the devils were inflamed with envy, and, breaking in upon him, they beat him with many cruel scourges, and left him lying on the ground. But his friends coming, and finding him in that state, carried him to the church, where God restored him to health. Returning there, he instructed them that he should be taken back to the former place. The devils, perceiving this, presented themselves to him under various masks and phantasms, namely, in the forms of wild beasts, like wolves, lions, ^D dragons, serpents, scorpions, and the like; and each of these exerted its force to destroy him. But he himself mocked and derided them, saying:

"If you had power over me, one of you would have been sufficient." At that, they dissipated like smoke before him. And he became free from passions and temptations, and God gave him victorious authority over the devils. Twice a year he would bake bread and parch it, so that it might be better preserved. He permitted no one to enter to him, but those who stood outside would receive words from him as they arrived.

^A For a span of twenty years, he applied himself diligently there to religious observances and practices. Then the Lord commanded him to be useful to the human race and to teach them the fear of God and His true worship. Wherefore, he set out for Phaium; and he confirmed the brethren who were there, and returned to his own monastery. During the time of the persecution of the martyrs, he burned with the greatest desire to obtain the crown of martyrdom. For that reason, leaving the monastery, he made for Alexandria, and there he openly confessed Christ, but no one detained him. He would visit those in prison for the name of Christ, to console them. But when the prefect saw how little Antonius feared him, he decreed that no monk should dare to appear in public. Yet he would openly present himself to him and accost him, so that, perhaps provoked to anger, he might subject him to tortures, and thus he might obtain the laurel of martyrdom; but he did not offend or harm the man of God even with a word, because God was preserving him for the benefit of many: for this reason, by divine dispensation, he returned to his own monastery. His garment was a tunic made of hair. In the whole span of his life, he did not even wash his body with water. Afflicted by the trouble caused by the frequency of those who flocked to receive his instructions, with the Lord's concurrence he betook himself to the inner desert. He set out thither with a company of certain Arabs for a three-day journey through the desert, until he found water, and there he settled; the Arabs, indeed, brought him bread. In that desert there were very many ferocious wild beasts, which God drove away from there by his prayers, and they never returned to that desert. He would sometimes return to the outer monastery, visiting and comforting the brethren who dwelt there; then he returned to the inner monastery. His fame was carried to Constantinople to the Emperor Constantine the Great, who wrote a letter to Antonius commending him, and earnestly asking him to pray to God for him. The brethren rejoiced at the king’s letter, but An- ^B -tonius, who held them as nothing, said to the brethren: "Behold, we have a letter from the King of kings, which admonishes us daily; and yet we hold that as nothing, and we rejoice in the letter of a terrestrial king?" And he was scarcely willing to send a reply to the insistent brethren, who said: "This emperor is a just man, a lover of the Church." Moved by these words, he wrote with difficulty, and he comforted him, and gave him his blessing. When at some time he was affected by weariness, he heard a voice saying to him: "Go outside, so that you may see"; and when he had gone out, he saw an angel clothed in a stole, and girded crosswise with a girdle, who bore the form of a monastic pallium, and on his head was placed a hood, like a helmet; and thus sitting, he was weaving palm leaves; then he would rise to pray, and again he would sit and weave. And a voice came to him saying: "Do this, Antonius, and you will find rest." From then on, he assumed for himself that habit which is the monastic habit, and he also applied himself to the weaving of palm leaves, nor did he suffer weariness anymore.

^C He prophesied concerning the devastation of the Church by heretics, and likewise concerning her restitution to her pristine state. He also prophesied concerning the monks, their multitude and increase, and how they were to inhabit cities, leaving the deserts. He also prophesied concerning the end of the world. He himself clothed Macharius in the monastic habit, and foretold to him the things that were to happen to him. He also set out to the great Father, the blessed Paul, and took care to bury his body, which he wrapped in Athanasius’s pallium. Observing that his own departure for rest was at hand, Antonius commanded his sons that they should hide his body. He also ordered that his staff be given to Macharius, his skin tunic to Athanasius, and his skin melota to Serapion. Stretched out upon the ground, he gave up his spirit, and went to meet the angels and the saints, to which place they carried him for his rest. As for his body, his disciples hid it, as he had commanded them, because he execrated those who publicly exposed the bodies of saints and martyrs for the sake of collecting gold, and for the sake of mere profit, and not for veneration. He lived to a perfect old age, nor was his body changed, nor did his strength fail, nor did his teeth fall out. And he went to Christ, whom he loved. May his prayers and ^D his blessings be with us. Amen.

From the Martyrology of the Maronites, under the 17th day of January.

On this day the commemoration is celebrated of the most blessed Abbot Antonius the Great. He was Egyptian by race, whom his parents reared from infancy in the Christian religion and faith. He flourished under Diocletian and Maximius, and his life extended even to the most religious Emperor Constantine the Great. He applied himself to the monastic institute and a religious life; and he so far surpassed everyone in this institute, that he was proposed to all monks as a pattern to be imitated. But what is more admirable is that, although he was not the first of all to have attempted this institute of angelic life, yet he has always been held by everyone as the first leader and author; because he alone had arrived at the summit of its highest perfection, as the writings and universal affection of all the faithful and those everywhere testify. To recount his virtues at present to the ears of the faithful would be superfluous, since no one is ignorant of them. This one thing, however, must not be passed over in silence: that while he was still in the mortal body,

he saw the ascents and the degrees of souls, and also the demons ensnaring them; for this is not a faculty of the corporeal nature, but of the incorporeal. Five years over one hundred he lived, and departed to the Lord: to whom be glory. Amen.

THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTHONY THE ABBOT

BY SAINT ATHANASIUS

SAINT ANTHONY THE GREAT ABBOT

ORATION TO THE MONKS.

SAINT ANTHONY THE GREAT ABBOT

SERMON ON THE VANITY OF THE WORLD AND THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.

1. It is the time of working, beloved, in which we may attain to eternal life ^A and unchangeable glory. For death succeeds this life, and confusion seizes upon worldly glory. For truly, many of the powerful, before the appointed time, have been thrust down into hell like curs; and judges have been judged by the lowest; and the rich have stood in need in the hereafter, and the wise have nevertheless devolved into folly. The powerful has become invalid, and he who was in health has been weakened. He who was exulting laments and wails; and he who held authority is deprived of it; and nothing remains firm and stable, because something good is not found in the world. Children inflict their parents with injuries and insults; and parents dread their own children. Spouses reject their husbands; ^B and men do not at all keep faith with their spouses. Juniors are known to rave with their seniors; and old men delight in acting wantonly with the young. There is no faithfulness in a friend, nor confidence in one’s own brother. A man speaks peaceful things to his neighbor, and in himself devises evils against him. Envy and deceit are exercised with all malice; and infidelity possesses all things. No one receives the memory of God, nor does anyone consider that he will have to render an account to God after death. And because of this, evils are multiplied, since God is despised. God has bestowed understanding upon us, that by knowing his will, we might do what is good: but we, having received knowledge of Him, do what is evil. He also conferred virtue upon us, by which we might be able to accomplish what is equitable and right, and we, through it, rather ^C commit iniquity. He distributes riches to us, that we may minister them to those who are in need; but we, who possess the riches, conversely plunder the poor. He has bestowed authority and power upon us, that by it we might be able to defend those who suffer violence; but we, on the contrary, do not offer defense to the miserable, but rather inflict violence. There is no one who walks in the straight way, nor one who exercises or follows just judgment. Charity has grown cold, and hatred has multiplied its fruit. The virtue of the soul is held for naught, and simulation pleases more in every place. Humility has come into abomination, and the arrogance of pride is held in highest honor. Truth has been abolished, and lying has prevailed on the earth. O the depth of the riches, of the goodness and patience of God! Because over these evils which are committed, He long-sufferingly delays, and in no way takes vengeance. Not as though He is unable to inflict vengeance immediately does He temper His indignation, but as a pious Father, mercifully sympathizing with us, He extends His mercy, that even late, being pricked in heart, we might be converted to repentance, and obtain the mercy of His immense goodness. For God does not will the death of the sinner, but repentance. What, however, is our virtue, that we think to resist divine virtue? A wind has blown upon us and we are withered, and a tempest has scattered us as dry brush, or a vine-shoot, or straw. Why then does earth and ash glory? When it is written: I have seen the impious one highly exalted, and lifted up as the cedars of Libanus; and I passed by, and behold he was not, and I sought him, and his place was not found.

^A To act wrongly is a symptom of weakness; to be an unbeliever, however, signifies an audacity of rashness. For no bold and rash person accomplishes any good work. Therefore, while we have time, let us spare ourselves, and appease God for our sins, lest at some point, with hands and feet bound, we be ordered to be cast into the outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. And what does the weeping and wailing indicate, if not the immensity of cruel and horrible torments? And what does the gnashing of teeth signify, if not that, for these same sins, there will afterwards be a greater repentance for the evils committed? For then, most certainly, we shall begin to be indignant against ourselves, repenting with the gnashing of teeth, when there shall remain no room for usefulness nor time for repentance. Therefore, since we are able in this short time to serve God and be delivered from hell and everlasting torments, why do we neglect this, and despising the commandments of God, serve our own pleasures, so that we may be made liable to irremediable punishment? But our God, who is great and a lover of mankind, rich in mercy, and powerful in His works, may He Himself help our weakness, crushing Satan under our feet quickly, and give us strength, and grant us spiritual understanding, that in this time which remains, serving Him in truth and faithfully, we may find grace before God in that terrible day of His judgment. Amen.

II. Let us not, therefore, think like this, as if after death we shall be nothing, and after the present life there will be no future judgment. For there will be a resurrection after death, and we shall be judged by God, who is to render to each one according to his works. Do not, therefore, let us be led astray and deceive ourselves, and live in this life like irrational beasts. For if there is no resurrection, there is no death. But if there will be a resurrection, there will certainly be a judgment. For He who established the sentence of death, He Himself also threatened judgment. If He is truthful in the former, He cannot be a liar in the latter. For what is easier for a person to accomplish: to tear down an old house and rebuild it from the same resources, or to construct another one new from the beginning, where there had been no previous building? If, therefore, He created from nothing the earth out of which man was made, how much more easily will He be able to reform man, who has been raised up from existing matter and corrupted by death, from the remaining substance of that same earth? For God does not work with labor. But the Word of God is His work; and His counsel is His Word. Truly, as He willed, *He spoke, and they were made.* As it is written: *Who calls those things which are not, as though they were.* For just as the virtue and power of God are incomprehensible, so also are His operations. And just as His wisdom is immense, so are His ways unsearchable. Let us not, therefore, remain unbelieving, because God is powerful to perform what He has promised, lest for disbelief rather than for wicked works we be condemned.

OF OUR HOLY FATHER ABBOT ANTHONY, TWENTY SERMONS TO HIS MONK SONS

SECTIO PRIMA. De fide in Christo Domino.

Before all things, brothers, let us believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, let us worship Him, and submit ourselves to Him, and let us do His will at every time and moment; nor let us believe in any other God besides Him, since He is the great God, the Lord of lords. Let us bless Him in justice and truth, and let us not liken Him to any of the creatures, neither to those things which are in the heavens above, nor on the earth below, because all these things were made through Him, and He Himself is before all things, and is to remain unto eternity, and shall have no end. For this reason, let us believe in Him and worship Him, that we may reign with Him and be forever enjoying His goods, because He is the King of kings, and all kingdoms are from Him. Let us believe, therefore, in Him with all our hearts, and let us walk in His commandments, since faith without works is dead; that He may show mercy to us in His kingdom, when we shall depart from the pilgrimage of the world prepared, saying: *I believed, therefore have I spoken.*

SECTIO SECUNDA. De timore Domini.

Come, brothers, let us walk in the fear of the Lord, since it is prescribed to us that we must serve with fear and trembling, that we may work out our salvation. Since there is nothing more excellent than the fear of the Lord God our Jesus Christ. The fear of the Lord is glory and the greatest grace: wherefore it is of great weight and esteem.

^A is he who fears the Lord. He who has possessed the fear of the Lord has attained great treasures, filled with eternal goods; and he is already exempt from the eternal punishments that are prepared for sinners. The fear of the Lord is chosen, more than gold and silver and most precious stones. No wise man is so exalted as he who fears the Lord. The fear of the Lord eradicates all guile and sins from the soul. He who does not fear the Lord will fall into many evils. The fear of the Lord makes a man free, and saves him from sins, from prepared punishments, and from the wicked dragon. As long as the fear of the Lord exists in a man, it guards and keeps him, until he casts off from himself this body, heavy to bear, and becomes an heir of goods with the saints, with whom he will rejoice with eternal joy, just as it is written: For fear of thee, O Lord, we have conceived, we have suffered the pains of childbirth, and we have brought forth the spirit of salvation 15.

SECTION THREE. On Long-suffering.

The Holy Scriptures assert, my most beloved sons, that the long-suffering man is better than the strong in his strength 16, and that the former excels the latter, as one fleeing from fire. Be, therefore, strong men, but walking in long-suffering, because God dwells in the long-suffering. But he who acts with a narrow heart is according to the will of the devil and his most wicked collaborators: on the contrary, the long-suffering man is according to the will of God at all times. Let us strive, therefore, my most beloved sons, to work according to the long-suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ 17, so that that word of Scripture may be fulfilled in us: In the time of rest he was long-suffering, and he obtained the testament.

SECTION FOUR. On Simplicity, or Innocence.

Blessed David asserts in the Holy Spirit: The innocent and the upright have cleaved to me, because I awaited thee, O Lord God 18. This prophecy, brethren, is concerning the saints who are joined to God by their innocence; because they have cast away from themselves guile, which they knew to be the worst fruit: but on the contrary, knew the fruit of innocence to be eternal life. You will find the innocent man in the perfect fear of God. Whoever possesses it is perfect and like to God; and he emits most sweet and pleasing odors, and is filled with joy and glory, and is the dwelling-place of the rest of the Spirit of God. Innocence is incense to God; whoever attains it, attains glory and honor in this world and in the future, and his name will be for generation and generation. Just as fire burns up very many forests if you neglect it: so guile will destroy your soul if you admit it into your heart, and it will defile your body with these things, and will bring upon you many evils and iniquitous thoughts. The guileful man mocks the innocent and all good men; and his heart is seized by many and most wicked thoughts, brought ^A in by the devils, which cause the intellect to wander, and bring upon him external evils, struggles, wounds, rumors of war, envy, hatred, and similar evils, which also burden the body and bring diseases upon it. He who works guilefully will be delivered to punishments; and he gladdens the heart of the devil and of his most wicked associates. Go therefore, my most beloved sons, acquire innocence for yourselves now, lest you die before your time 19. Acquire for yourselves also the simplicity of the saints, that our Lord Jesus Christ may receive you to himself, and let us say with joy: Because of our innocence thou hast received us, and hast confirmed us before thyself in eternity 20. Amen.

SECTION FIVE. On Humility.

Brethren, the prophet says: Upon whom shall I look, if not upon the meek, the humble, and him who trembles at my words, which I speak 21? But our Lord himself says in the Gospel: Learn of me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you shall find rest unto your souls 22. Whoever, therefore, has acquired humility for himself, has now become a dwelling-place of God most high; and has attained height, the love of innocence, peace, and charity. Go, therefore, acquire humility for yourselves, and do not walk with the pride of heart of the devils. For the pride of heart is despised before God and his angels and the saints. Whoever, therefore, walks with pride of heart is a participant with the devils. Because of the pride of heart the heavens were bowed down, and the foundations of the earth were shaken, the abysses were troubled, and the angels were cast down from their glory, and they were made devils because of the pride of ^C their heart: for this reason the Omnipotent was angered, and he caused the abyss to send forth fire above, and at the same time to raise up the fiery sea in waves. Because of the pride of heart he instituted hell, and punishments. Because of the pride of heart were chains and scourges made, by which the devil is tormented on account of his own pride of heart. Because of the pride of heart his abysses of the lower regions were made, and the worms that die not 23 nor sleep. Because of the pride of heart were fiery chariots made, and burning instruments of flames, and coals of fire. Because of the pride of heart all things were troubled, and they clash together, from whence tyranny has arisen. All these things were made because of the pride of heart. The pride of the heart of men is unclean before God: but God does not abhor hearts that are humbled and contrite. But come to us, my most beloved sons and brethren, receiving God’s clemency from the highest, he was made humble even unto the last breath. Therefore let us glory with him who says: Look upon my humility and my labor, and forgive me all my sins 24.

SECTION SIX. On Purity.

The Holy Scriptures assert, my most beloved sons, that a pure man is great wealth. They also say: Be ye holy, for I am holy, says

^A the Lord Almighty 25. Come, therefore, let us struggle for purity even unto death, and let us beware of all impurities which are contrary to nature, according to the words of Moses, the first-born of the prophets. Let us also beware greatly of this bitter business, that our private parts be not uncovered to one another, nor let us gaze upon the beauty of women; for we are not ignorant that death has sprung from these things; and indeed, it is the worst thing of all for men to look upon women with lust. For because of the sight of the eyes, angels fell from their glory and were despoiled of their honor. Many indeed have perished, brothers, because of women. Some have been killed for the sake of their wives, some for the sake of their sisters, others because of their daughters—but all these things happen for the sake of impurity alone. Let us walk, therefore, brothers, in purity, because the fruit of purity is light, truth, and vigilance. Do not be, therefore, slaves to the ^B worst and most abject passions, nor to obscene pleasures which are impure before God. Write the name of God in the eyes of your hearts, that it may constantly cry out within you, saying: You are the temples of the living God 26, and the place of rest of the Holy Spirit 27. But he who does impure things is filled with deceit and anger and bitterness and sighings and the worst chains before his Creator. A man deceived by impurities is like unto beasts that lack all understanding before God, according to the opinion of the holy psalmist, the prophet David 28. Come now, therefore, my most beloved sons, come, let us hate that evil eye, and let us seek after purity, because this is the glory of the angels of God. But if, ^C at the suggestion of the devil, we have fallen, let us rise through repentance and approach Him who came to seek the one sheep that had strayed through sin 29; namely, God, who forgives sins to all those who ask Him with their whole heart: that we also may hear that sweet voice saying: Precious in the sight of God is the death of His elect, without destruction forever 30.

SECTION SEVEN. On Peace.

Let this be manifest to you, brothers, that the Lord Himself has commanded us to seek peace that we may attain it; because the eyes of the Lord look upon the just, and His ears are attentive to their prayers 31. Brothers, let us discern the peace of God and hasten to it, lest it be objected against us that our peace is the peace of sinners, ^D seeing that He Himself said: My peace I give unto you, and my peace I leave with you 32. Come, therefore, brothers, come: let us enter the true struggle, that we may retain for ourselves the peace of Christ, because this peace descends from the Father of lights 33 and the King of the ages. The lover of peace is already made a partner of the beloved Father, Jesus Christ, and of the angels, and is afflicted by no inconveniences; whereas the haters of peace are turned back by envy and disturbances. But because of the envy which 968 is the beginning of all guile and deceit, the sons of God were afflicted, and on their account sin prevailed; death reigned over hell, and trees were rendered unfruitful and changed their nature. Because of envy, innocent blood was shed. Let us, therefore, flee from envy and contentions. He who is a friend of the envious and contentious is a friend of a harmful beast. Indeed, he who trusts in a beast or a dragon is more secure than he who trusts in a contentious and envious man. He who does not shrink from contentions spares no man, not even his own friends; and no one seems powerful to him, nor is he directed in the way. For they will spill your blood with their hands ^A as they would a handful of water upon the ground, and your life is held of no account by them. Come now, therefore, my sons, flee from envy, and be sons who are lovers of peace, and do not be adverse to your neighbors, because the perfection of the law is that you should sustain and love your neighbor 34. Do not be of a double heart, that you may be strong. Do not be evil toward one another, because an evil man is bitter in his whole life, and is quick to works of perdition, and applies his life to the worst tasks: injuries are precious and honorable to him, and he boasts in words of folly. Now, therefore, my sons, if any of you choose to live upon the earth, by cultivating the fruits of the fields or vineyards, do not eat and drink without measure, lest you forget the Lord your God according to the words of the holy Gospel 35, ^B but let us labor with the work of our hands, that we may offer to the Lord sacrifices and peaceful holocausts, that the best God may hear our prayer, and we may hear that sweet voice of His: Blessed are the peacemakers among men, for they shall be called the sons of God 36, who is the God of peace forever. Amen.

SECTION EIGHT. On Silence.

The wise Solomon asserts 37, most beloved, that a chosen treasure is in the mouth of the wise man; likewise, he who cannot guard his mouth and tongue, let him take care not to multiply words. Beware, man, and rule your tongue, nor multiply words, lest you multiply sins for yourself. Place a finger upon your mouth, and a bridle upon your tongue, ^C because a man of many words leaves no place anywhere for the Holy Spirit to dwell in him. Night and day let the name of the Lord be in your mouth, and be seasoned with spiritual salt 38, that everyone may know of your continence. If any novice, while still speaking with you, asks you any word in which there is profit for the soul, answer him; but if there is no profit, be as one who is deaf and does not hear, and as one who is mute and does not speak. Come now, therefore, my sons, acquire true doctrine for yourselves, that you may be perfect: seek with all your might for truth and meekness, that you may be filled with good things. But he who is silent, sitting before God, ^D shall be filled from that which is written: Blessed are those who will have mercy on them for fear of the living God the judge 39.

^A And of the dead: but he who fulfills the counsel of the just shall live forever and unto the age without corruption. Amen.

SECTION NINE

The Psalmist said: Serve the Lord in fear, and exult for him with trembling. Scripture also says: You shall worship no other God besides me. It is expedient for us, therefore, most beloved brethren, to serve God: for it is better, as is written, to trust in the Lord than to trust in men. Therefore, let us not be anxious to serve men, lest we fall into their snares and their depraved desires. Do not walk after the desire of the sight of your eyes, nor let your heart go astray, lest you fall into places filled with the smoke of darkness forever. For evil desire perverts the heart and transforms ^B the mind. Withdraw, therefore, far from it, lest the Spirit of God, which dwells in you, become angry. But you, my sons, be of an equal and strong mind, and count the devil as nothing, since we have a Creator who is at hand to bring us aid, that we may do His will and all things pleasing at all times. Wherefore let us cry out, saying: My God, I am your servant, and the son of your handmaid. May God, who alone is wise, keep you, that you may increase in the works of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

SECTION TEN

We must be very careful of our tongues. Our Lord Jesus Christ says to us in his holy Gospel: Enter through the narrow gate. He says also: Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom. But what the narrow gate is, through which we must enter, most beloved brethren, the wise Solomon reveals to us, while he says: My son, do not permit your mouth to be opened, lest your flesh should sin. Likewise: The mouth of a fool is his destruction. Let us strive, therefore, to place a strong guard upon our mouths, lest we bring forth any evil thing, since a depraved speech is worse than all venoms. All wounds are curable; but the wound of the tongue has no cure. The tongue of the dragon is better than the tongue of the whisperer, who is from the most wicked devil, because he stirs up quarrels and sharp conflicts in ^D the midst of the brethren, and sows sedition and evils among the peaceful, and destroys many congregations. If you allow him to enter unto you, he will strip you of all your dignities. Whoever makes a partnership with him, has now become a companion to murderers and to those who slay with the sword, because the murderer and the whisperer bring forth the same offspring; for if they do not slay you with the sword, they will bring you to the same wound by it. The tongue of the whisperer is not unlike the bite of a snake; indeed, it is more expedient to dwell with a snake and a scorpion than to dwell with a whisperer. Blasphemers and tyrants are better than whisperers. All sins are lesser than murmuring. The whisperer and he who offers him his ears bear the same condemnation. It is more expedient for you to approach a fire and be burned, rather than to approach a whisperer. If you walk upon boiling pitch and take care of yourself, you will easily escape safe; but if by chance you pass near a whisperer, withdraw far from him, lest he hand you over to irremediable wounds, because his mouth is at all times full of murders and frauds. Wherefore I strictly command you, that with the greatest flight you can, you withdraw yourselves from a whisperer; whether he be a monk, an anchorite, or a combatant, or a novice, provided he is a whisperer, whoever he may be, flee him, even if he were your father or brother; if he is a whisperer, withdraw yourself far from him. For it is more expedient to dwell with a lion and a lioness than with a whisperer. And do not be ashamed to withdraw from him by flight, lest he infect you with the venom of sin. Go forth, therefore, my sons, flee murmuring, and apply yourselves to silence; because he who is devoted to silence is near to God and His angels, and is placed in the highest things. But the Lord says, that He will then guard your ways, when you yourselves guard your words. And He will say to us, therefore, in the day of our visitation: Blessed are you, Israel, who guard your mouth. Who is like unto you? But may God keep you by His peace and grace. Amen.

SECTION ELEVEN

The wise Solomon says: The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. Knowledge, therefore, to one working according to His statutes, is best. He also says: With all diligence guard your heart, because from these proceed the paths of life. For it is reasonable that we should be anxious in our conduct, lest we be held to be fools, and a fool is held of no account; and therefore it is said that the fool and the senseless perish together, and are held in no honor. Solomon says furthermore: The anger of a fool is worse than this. Likewise: A man hard of heart will fall into many evils, and there is no health in his bones, nor will his soul find rest, and in his death there is no rest nor honor. A man puffed up in heart is odious to all, because his works are too arrogant; and therefore he falls into many sins. All sins before God are despised, but the most despicable of all is the pride of heart. Whoever asks or gives counsel with a proud heart is like one pouring water into a perforated vessel: or is like him who speaks to a bird flying away. It is more expedient to enter into a partnership with a dragon and a most wicked hydra than with a proud heart: wherefore the law reproaches him who instructs a fool. If a dragon sees a naked man, it retreats with head bowed; but a man proud of heart is captured by no shame, because of the most wicked pride of his heart.

The devil was cast down from heaven even because of the pride of his heart. Correct yourselves, and confess your sins before God and your elders, so that He himself may exalt you, for he is the Highest in the heavens, and looks upon the humble from afar. Let us now therefore, my sons, contend according to true and best wisdom, lest that Scripture be fulfilled in us: *The heart of a fool is on his left*; but rather that it be said of us: *The understanding of a wise man is on his right*. And likewise that of the Psalmist: *Thy hand shall lead me, and thy right hand shall uphold me*. May God be with you all. Amen.

SECTION XII. On Shame.

The sacred Scriptures assert that there is a twofold shame: one from which sin is born, and another from which glory and grace are born. They also assert that the shameless man is hateful and despised by all; but the man of shame is raised up by his shame to modesty. Shame for a sin committed, and true modesty, is a useful shame; but the shame from which sin is born is that shame which prevents the commandments of God from being carried out. My sons, beware that you do not busy yourselves with injustice and oppression and judgment, and walk not with the shedder of blood; but above all, flee from him who accepts gifts and practices usury, lest you be caught by the love of money, just as they are; for indeed, love of money brings many evils upon its lovers. Beware lest, because of shame, you consent and concur with the multitude in guile and fraud. Beware further, lest because of shame you covet what is not your own. Do not hold in hatred the elderly, and widows, and also the poor orphaned of their parents; but flee from the foolish widow, and from wards who are devoid of knowledge. Beware at all costs of being caught in litigation, and withdraw far from contentions. Beware of speaking to a foolish woman, or to a reprobate one, and especially to one who inflicts injury upon men, just as it is written concerning her. Be not ashamed to withdraw from those who wander in the streets, and who roam through cities and solitudes, because very many are caught by this snare. But let us return now to that shame which is full of glory and grace. Therefore, be not ashamed to do whatever is in accordance with the will of God, nor hide yourself in the work of truth, nor be ashamed to learn the doctrines of the Lord or the words of wisdom, or to open your sins to your priest. Do not fear or be ashamed of a prince or a rich man who is unmerciful, or of a powerful man or tyrant, a sinner or a perpetrator of iniquities. Do not let yourself be seduced or led into committing any sin because of shame, lest it lead you to the worst punishment: for because of sin, man is stripped of the garment of glory. May God therefore grant you knowledge, and clothe you with wisdom of glory and of understanding, so that we too may cry out, saying: *Thou hast upheld me for my innocence, and hast confirmed me in thy sight for ever*. Amen.

SECTION XIII. On vainglory.

The prophet says, most beloved brothers: *I have not eaten desirable bread, nor have I coveted the glory of men*. And our Lord, who is led by compassion for our souls, says in the holy Gospel: *Woe to you, if they speak good words about you and glorify you, and you seek not the glory of God*. Let us therefore contend even to death, resisting vainglory, and let us cut off its most wicked branches, lest we be led to punishment. Vainglory is accustomed to dominate our hearts: but he to whom vainglory has dominated is destined for the condemnation of punishments, and offers himself as a sacrifice to the rulers of the abyss of the underworld; and he is like a man who stores water to slake his thirst in a vessel that is full of holes. Flee from vainglory: for many have perished on account of it; and it has compelled man to manifold labors, fastings, prayers, many nightly vigils, many alms bestowed before men, and other things of this kind; by which at last he will gain nothing but confusion and reproach. Let us therefore flee this empty glory, because it is worse than all devils. But if no vainglory exists in us, let us not run to display great things, lest we perish on account of this, and be entangled in their many branches, because the devils of empty glory are very many. But let us strive much more intensely to inquire into the glory of the saints and their poverty, so that we may comprehend that sweet saying of God: *Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven*.

SECTION XIV. On glory and patience.

Our Lord Jesus Christ says in his holy Gospel: *In your patience you shall win your souls*. And also: *He that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved*. How much more, therefore, must we labor and endure in truth, so that we may attain those things that are prepared for us in the heavens? Before we have reached the shedding of blood, let us not boast; for no craftsman boasts of his work before it is finished, but rather when the craft is already complete. For if we have walked according to truth, and have loved those who hate us, and have not done to another what we do not wish to be done to us, and have loved peace, we have already attained humility. If we have held the pride of the heart in hatred, we have already embraced our enemies. If we have blessed those who curse us, we have already placed a bridle upon our mouths. If we have loved charity, we have already performed the best service, we have conquered weariness, loquacity, and hatred toward our neighbor. When a man has completed all these things, then let him glory, as one who has worked all the day, according to

the testimony of the Gospel, and let him ask with confidence for his reward; for our God is not unjust, but bestows upon each according to merits. He, therefore, is to be called blessed who has achieved victory through humility, and in his own time will be glorified in the highest, like Lazarus. But we must exclaim and say: "Because I have been humbled, O Lord, you have delivered me; return, O my soul, unto the place of your rest forever." Amen.

SECTION FIFTEEN. On Understanding.

^A The Psalmist David said: "How sweet are your words to my throat, more than honey to my mouth." Likewise: "The counsels of his heart are chosen above precious stones." Truly blessed is he who keeps watch and performs the precepts of our Lord Jesus Christ, until he attains to the knowledge of Him, so that he may be able to say: "Wonderful is your knowledge." Beware, O faithless one, lest He who created us should be angry. For whoever does not walk according to the right faith offers food to worms that do not sleep, and sacrifices victims to the prince of darkness; his spirit becomes alien to eternal life, and he manifestly retreats from God. Indeed, most of those who are in the underworld are driven there by reason of infidelity. Because of infidelity and unbelief, all those evils which have been perpetrated against our Lord Jesus Christ had their origin. But those faithless ones did not even believe in Him who rose from the dead, so that they might be saved. Woe to that generation! Woe to their miserable souls! Whoever announces, corrects, or teaches the faithless is like a man who throws most precious gems into the depths of the sea. Just as water runs onto sloping ground and is carried there with force, so the word of the Lord flows into the soul of the faithful. Awake, therefore, my most beloved sons, flee from infidelity as from the origin of all evils, so that the Lord and His holy resurrection may be the more glorified. Let us believe, therefore, in the name of the Lord God the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, that that written word may embrace us: "Those who trust in the Lord shall be like Mount Zion: ^B because he will not be shaken forever, who is in Jerusalem": for faith is the firm foundation of all the saints, by which they have stopped the mouths of lions and quenched the flame of fire, because of their faith always burning toward God.

SECTION SIXTEEN. On good diligence.

The blessed Apostle Paul asserts: "It is not consistent for us, brothers, to live according to the flesh, for those who live according to the flesh shall die." The blessed John also said: "Do not love the world, because the world passes away, and all its lusts. But he who does the will of God remains forever." Let us awake, therefore, my most beloved sons, and establish for ourselves good diligence in the house of our mind, ^C lest we be called slothful and sluggish. It has already been said: If you possess good diligence, you will be a partaker of a good mind. Whoever is endowed with good diligence has already become a temple of God, and has gained for himself a most glorious name; he will be greatly enriched, and will acquire treasures most accumulated with good things. Blessed is he who watches at the gate of wisdom. Against the diligent and watchful man, the passions will not prevail at all. If, however, he should fall on account of the deceits of the tempter, diligence and vigilance immediately raise him up. But the careless and lazy man, who does not watch over divine worship, if he falls because of the devil's temptations, does not notice the sin he is committing, because his heart is as hard as a stone, and like a tamed and bound mule, which they continually mount, and it does not resist, just as it is written: "He was compared to beasts, which have no understanding." To this class of men is compared the man who is undiligent, ^D because in such a kind of men the devil manifests his lusts and desires, and his whole confusion; and he draws him wherever he pleases, until his iniquities are fulfilled, and he dies with groanings and weeping. But come now, my most beloved sons, gather for yourselves perfection and diligence, so that you do not fall into all the struggles of the enemy. The negligent man is like a house overturned and destitute of inhabitants, which is of no value to anyone, but is detestable to all, as a dwelling for vipers, scorpions, and diabolical beasts; and no one cares for it, as it is overturned and desolate. This is the condition of the negligent man; for you will find no divine aid guarding him or dwelling in him, which might ward off all these things from him; rather, all these things dwell in him. My most beloved sons, hasten to preserve this diligence, and do not put it away from you, lest you be subjected to the empire of the enemy. While excellent diligence and care exist in a man, it raises him up and preserves him from all falls and ruins, so that that man becomes a place of rest for the Holy Spirit, and finishes his journey happily, and deserves to enter the place of the rest of the saints in peace, and to hear that beautiful and sweet voice: "A contrite and humbled heart God will not despise."

SECTION SEVENTEEN. On religiosity and virginity.

We have heard the blessed Apostle Paul, when he had arrived at the honors of virginity, speaking of it thus: "I have no commandment from God." He had no commandment, because not all can bear this heavy yoke: therefore, it was left to the choice of those who are able to bear it. Virginity is a seal that is not broken; a perfect likeness which is not changed; a spiritual and holy sacrifice, a mirror, and a vision by which the road leading to the goal of perfection is observed; a diadem woven with true perfections; that sweet dew which refreshes all creatures. It is the very gospel of life which is hidden from all.

all ages and generations, yet reveals its mysteries. The greatest heritage and possession is, indeed, virginity. Whoever scorns virginity inflicts an injury upon God and the angels. Truly, no one from the adversary’s army dares or has the power to approach it. Yet let no virgin boast of her virginity, for it is the grace of God himself. Let a virgin cast away from herself womanish sensibilities, thoughts of the flesh, pride of heart, and the love of all those things which belong to the devil. Let her also keep murmuring far away; as well as hatred toward men and the glory of the world. Let her apply herself to religion, restrain her tongue, and chasten her belly with fasts. For if she should be adorned with all these things, she shall be a sacrifice without spot or pollution. Virginity is likened to a vessel full of gold, which guards keep watch over night and day. Virginity is a most sweet fragrance to Christ the Lord, and it connects the diadems of life. If, O virgin, you are anxious about many foods, and when you walk about, you do so with admiration, in all your works you shall bring back confusion. If you do not guard your tongue, you shall be empty throughout the whole course of your life, and that saying of Scripture shall be fulfilled in you: You have undertaken great labors in vain. Do not, therefore, my brothers, do not allow this to happen to you; but let us work at the best and most perfect patience, that we also may be able to say: I do not fear, because the Lord is my helper. And just as it has been said: The Lord loves those who fear Him in all good things.

SECTION EIGHTEEN. In which he commands that we should withdraw from evil, and approach the good, and do it.

The Sacred Scriptures assert: Behold, I have set before you two ways, namely, good and evil. They have also assured us that the way of evil leads to the depths of hell. Let us therefore withdraw from it, and walk with rectitude along the path that the saints have walked, just as it is written: Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. The way of the saints, however, is that we should walk in the law of the Lord, namely, in purity of body, purity of tongue, purity of eyes, purity of hands, purity of ears, purity of feet, and in right thought toward God and with a pure heart toward one another, so that we may be able to say: Create a clean heart in me, O God, and renew a right spirit within my bowels.

SECTION NINETEEN. In which it deals with the restraint of the tongue.

Dearest brothers, ^B I ask your charity toward Christ God, that you flee and avoid the wicked seed, full of frauds and all the most evil deceits. For Sacred Scripture asserts: The tongue is indeed a small member, but it defiles the whole body. It says also: By it we bless God; and by it we curse men, who were created by God after his own likeness. Death, therefore, resides in him who has a double tongue, because he has made a covenant with death, and has prepared for himself perdition in hell, and shall not have an inheritance in the land of the living, [even those] who do the will of God. Certainly, you will discover that a double-tongued man destroys souls, perturbs relatives and friends, scatters gatherings and assemblies, devotes himself to the perpetration of all evils, and entangles himself, always devising deceit against his neighbor. You will find that the prayers, almsgivings, and fasts of the double-tongued are wrapped in darkness before God. Wherefore it is written that the prayer of such a man becomes a sin. Go to now, therefore, most beloved brothers, flee far from the double-tongued; by no means enter into friendship with him, because whoever enters into friendship with him has entered into [friendship] with death. Nay, strive with all your strength so that you do not speak with him, that you do not learn his most evil works, and so that he does not infect you. Blessed is that man who diligently guards himself, and learns by experience to be faithful in all things; for he shall hear that joyful voice: Because you have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things; enter into the joy of your Lord.

SECTION TWENTY. Concerning deceit.

Let us lift up our hands and our hearts to the Most High who is in heaven, and let us strive to flee that first sin, namely, the deceit which was in Cain, according to that written word: Deliver me, O God, from the unjust and deceitful man. A deceitful man deceives his own soul only, because his deceit returns upon his own head, as it is written in the Psalm: His labor shall be turned upon his own head, and his iniquity shall come even into the midst of his house. Do not use the familiarity of an evil man, nor follow an unjust man, nor touch him at all; but execrate him as a shroud defiled by the stench of the dead. For the tongue of a deceitful man excites contentions among the crowds and the shedding of blood. He who contracts friendship with a deceitful man contracts it with the worst devil. He who enters into companionship with a deceitful man enters into it with the shedders of blood, and becomes himself guilty of his own death. It is much more expedient to live in solitude than with a deceitful man. Do not contract friendship with a deceitful man: do not enter into any house with him, because if you have entered, he will drag you to his own stench. It is better for you to be with wild beasts than with a deceitful man; for indeed ^D he approaches you sweetly, and speaks to you peaceably; but if you have once saddened his heart, he immediately belches forth his hidden deceit, and strikes you down unprepared. Wherefore, may God who was with our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, be with you, that He may deliver you from him whose strength is in his loins, namely, the devil; who at all times envies religious men, and strives to take them with his hook, that he may swallow them: but we have our Lord Jesus Christ, who prays for us, who has given us the power of treading upon his virtue. An eye that is not weary of seeing, and an ear that does not fail in hearing,

...affirms that the fulfillment of the law is charity. He also says: The fulfillment of these is that you may all be one heart in Jesus Christ, helping one another and showing brotherly love, being merciful, so that the Lord may also prepare our hearts to fulfill his commands until the day of the manifestation of full glory through Jesus Christ in all generations without corruption, brothers whom I love, through Jesus Christ: to whom be glory and honor now and for all time and for ages of ages. Amen.

Twenty Sermons of our most wise Father, Abbot Anthony, father of all monks, have been completed. May the Lord have mercy on us through his prayers. Amen.

OF THE BLESSED FATHER ANTHONY, DESERVEDLY GREAT, MOST HOLY ABBOT, SEVEN EPISTLES, Translated from Greek into Latin by Valerius de Sarasio.

EPISTLE I. TO HIS BROTHERS.

1. First, I greet you in the Lord. I suspect that whatever souls the grace of God has grasped, as it calls them to its own preaching through his own Word, possess three modes, whether they be men or women. For some, through the testamentary law and the good once planted within them, from the very beginning of their condition, have not delayed reaching toward the Word of God, but have proceeded ready with Him, just as our forefather Abraham; to whom, because God first extended an investigation through the testamentary law, He appeared, saying: Go forth from your land and from your kindred, and from your father's house, and come to the land that I will show you (Gen. XII, 1). And he, hesitating in nothing, was ready for the calling. But this was a figure of the first life of this institution, which still persists in those who follow his footsteps. Whence also, if souls so sustain and act in this way, they will easily assume the same virtues, because their hearts are ready to be filled with the Spirit of God. And this is the first institution.

The second, however, arises from those who hear the written law testifying to them all the punishments which are prepared for sinners, and announcing the holy promises to those who progress, for whom, also through the testimonies of the inscribed law, a sober will arises, and through this they sought to enter into the calling of the One calling. Thus also David testifies, saying: The law of the Lord is unspotted, converting souls (Ps. XVIII, 8). And in that same place: The declaration, he says, of your words illuminates and gives understanding to the little ones (Ps. CXVIII, 130). But there are many other things as well, about which I cannot now speak.

Furthermore, the third institution is that in which, with hard hearts often remaining among vices and works of sin, the benign God sometimes brings labors to chide them, until they feel through affliction, and being penitent from the whole heart, they receive virtues themselves, just as ^B those of whom I have spoken before. These, therefore, are the three introductions for souls who come to repentance, until they obtain the grace and calling of the Son of God.

II. But I think that the Spirit first calls those who enter the struggle with all their heart and organize themselves to withstand every adversary in the struggle until they vanquish him. For the Spirit provides them with gentleness in all things, helping them so that the works of repentance may be trodden in them; He sets limits for them through a certain mode of repentance in their body and soul, until He also teaches them the mode of conversion to their own creator, God; and indeed He provides them with an impulsion of violence running through the soul and body, so that both may be able to be sanctified, that both may take the inheritance in the same way: the body, indeed, in frequent fasts and vigils; but the soul, in spirit and diligence, and also in the ministries that it does in the body. One must strive in this with every carnal fructification.

III. The Spirit also becomes the conductor of repentance in these and tests ^C him in these, so that there may be no enmity to turn back by chance. But then that conductor Spirit begins to open the eyes of the soul to exhibit repentance, and so that the sense may also be sanctified, He provides an intermediate stringency, beginning to be taught by the Spirit to sanctify the repentance of body and soul, with the sense instructed by the Spirit leading us to the doing of that of the soul and body—He who sanctifies all things and provides stringency so that the fruit of the flesh may also be mingled with all the natural faculties of the body, from which transgression was; and He brings each one of the natural faculties of the body to its former condition, having nothing alien or hostile to the spirit. For the body is reduced under the power of the sense, instructed by the Spirit according to the utterance of Paul: I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection (1 Cor. IX, 27). ^D

^A Since the sense has previously sanctified itself in its food and drink, from its sleep, once and simply in all its movements, and has separated its natural union for the sake of its own sanctification.

IV. I believe, however, that there exist three movements of the body. In it there is the natural compounding of the body, which, however, does not work or effect anything without the will of the soul, except for what it judges solely within the body. For another movement also exists from the feeding of the body with much food and drink, from which the swelling of blood arises, and which, through the taking of meals, attacks the body of the entire soul with agitation. On account of this, the Apostle says: Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess (Ephes. V, 18). Then, as the Lord announced to his disciples in the Gospel, it is said: Take heed lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness (Luc. XXI, 34). For those who are seeking especially the measure of sanctification, it is deemed fitting to bring forward this: I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection (1 Cor. IX, 27). The third movement is of the malignant spirits, who tempt through envy and wish to render more feeble those who strive to sanctify themselves. Nevertheless, if the soul sustains itself in these same three ways by the testimonies in which the Spirit has instructed the sense, it will be sanctified in both regards from that threefold languor. But if the sense has let itself go from the testimonies in which the Spirit testifies to it, then the malignant spirits take over the gathering of the body, and they attack it with that movement until the soul is fatigued and begins to inquire whence help might come; and having turned, it acknowledges the testimonies of the Spirit and is healed. Then it is granted to it that the only rest to be sought is from God, and that thus its peace is made.

V. I have asserted these things for the sake of repentance in body and soul, and as to how it is fitting for it to be cleansed; and when ^B it has taken up such a struggle, then the messengers of the Spirit are present, and it begins to discern even the diseases of the soul that approach and through their own pleasures. Then indeed there will be a participation of the Spirit with the sense, through the keeping of the commandments which He delivered to it; and He teaches it to cure every languor of its own soul, discerning each one of them, and with the mixture received in the body, of the natural things and the rest which are peculiar to it outside the body from head to foot, having its own will mixed into them, and for the eyes, indeed, a bound so that they may be looked upon rightly and confidently, bearing nothing beyond that is foreign. Then that the ears might hear in peace, and no longer be delighted to hear detraction and spiritual insults; but rather, that they might desire the correction and pity of all, before all possession, since it was in those things that it was first ailing. Then again, that it might teach its own tongue sancti- tude, because a languor of this kind had settled into it for a long time, so that from those things by which it was sick, it should always speak something, delivering to the tongue as an instrument to be employed, just as it was existing for it. This languor, therefore, was magnified more abundantly for it in this member which is the tongue. Hence also James the apostle testifies: If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain (Jac. I, 26). And the same one says there: Even so the tongue is a little member, and defileth the whole body (Jac. III, 5, 6); and many other things that I cannot add in their entirety. But if the senses prevail to take from the Spirit, it itself will be sanctified first: and ^C finally, examining its words, it will indeed deliver them to its own tongue, but having nothing in them that is wicked or of the soul’s self-will, through which the word of Solomon will be fulfilled, who says: My words are spoken by God, nor is there anything wicked or perverse in them (Prov. VIII, 8). The same one again in another place says: The tongue of the wise is health (Prov. XII, 18); and very many other things.

VI. Then again, if the movements of the hands were sometimes moving within me, in which it was not fitting for the pleasures of the soul [to be involved]; but now one Spirit terminates its sense, so that they might be moved in sanctity, in prayers, and in mercies, and might perform works of this kind. Moreover, in these things, let that utterance, brought forth for the sake of prayers, be fulfilled: The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice (Psal. CXL, 2). Likewise Solomon elsewhere: And that the hands of the strong are enriched (Prov. X, 4). And so, afterwards, that it might cleanse also the food of the belly itself and the drink, even if it uses them to satiety; or if at any time soul-pleasure has been in them in desires, considering that some in the satiety of food or drink have obeyed demons, of whom the Spirit says through David: With a proud eye and an unsatiable heart, with this I did not eat (Psal. C, 5). For even if these, in turn, have sought the holiness of the Lord, the Spirit again restricts them with the same holiness, so that they use them moderately and sufficiently for sustaining the body, and do not further have in it concupiscence or pleasure. And so the utterance of Paul the Apostle will be ^D fulfilled, who says: Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God (1 Cor. X, 31). Then also, regarding those things which are measured through the thought of intercourse of the womb, the sense, again taught by the Spirit, provides a discernment for their movements in the aforementioned three modes, and leans towards sanctification, having the Spirit as a helper. That movement is also extinguished through the virtue of the Spirit, who pacifies the whole body and destroys that entire movement. This is the true utterance that was predicted by Paul: Mortify your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, evil concupiscence (Coloss. III, 5); and what follows thereafter. Thus, again, the feet, which although at one time did not have an unimpeded gait,

^A but walked not according to God, he forces these senses, which have been under the volition of the spirit, to proceed to serve good works, so that the body may become transformed under the power of the spirit. But I estimate that such a habitation has already received even in this life a certain portion of the spiritual body, which it was destined to receive in the resurrection of the just.

VII. But I have said these things on account of the illnesses of the soul which usurp a commingling among the natural parts of the body, when the soul is moved within them, having become a follower of the evil spirits, so that they may work in the members. But I also foretold that it [the soul] also has in itself the proper discernment of these things. For pride is a languor of the same body; but vainglory is an illness to it outside the body: likewise inflation, hatred, envy, anger, and pusillanimity, as well as impatience and the other trifles of these. But if indeed someone has believed in God with his whole heart, then the kind God bestows upon him a spirit of repentance, and witnesses to him so that he may repent of every single languor. On account of which the adversaries prohibit him, attempting to usurp it for themselves, and they do not allow him to repent. But if he sustains, being obedient, the spirit urging him to repent; his Creator also, moved by the bowels of mercy over his labors—which he endured in bodily destitutions, that is, in many fasts, in vigils, in many meditations, in the word of God, and in generous prayers, or in worldly renunciations, in humility, in the poverty of the spirit; in all of which the kind God, beholding and considering him as he sustains, and having mercy on his patience enduring in temptations, will aid him.

LETTER II. TO THE ARSINOITES.

I. Antonius to all who are in Arsinoë and in its parish, or who are with them, greeting in the Lord.

I greet you all as being prepared to go to God, my most beloved, from the least even to the greatest, and from the males even to the females. O children of Israel, according to your sensual existence. For truly, little children, there is a great promise for you in your generation. For it was fitting for you, on account of Him who made a visitation of you, by no means to be wearied, striving until you should offer yourselves as a sacrifice to God in all holiness, without which no one shall be able to inherit God. For certainly, most beloved, this is a great thing for you, that you inquire about the knowledge of sensual existence, in which there is neither male nor female, but only an immortal substance exists, having indeed a beginning, but by no means an end: and it was owed to you to know about it, how it has altogether fallen into such great humiliation and extraordinary confusion, which, passing through, has come upon you all.

II. Therefore, when the immortal substance exists not to be consumed by bodies, for this reason God, ^A looking upon this same wound as having become irremediable, and because it was exceedingly magnified, through His own indulgence, making a visitation of them on account of His own goodness, after some time set a law for them, whence He also worked through Moses by providing the law. And Moses indeed founded for them a house of truth, wishing to heal the same serious wound; but he could not complete the building of the house. Moreover, also, the whole chorus of saints, collected into one, petitioned the Father's goodness concerning our Savior ^B (15), that He might tread upon the earth for the salvation of us all, as He Himself is our great and faithful high priest and true physician, who alone could heal this enormous wound. Whence also by the will of the Father He emptied Himself of His own glory, and being God, He assumed the form of a servant, giving Himself up for our sins. And in truth our offenses humbled Him, but by His stripes we are all healed.

III. Wherefore, most beloved little children in the Lord, I wish you to know that for our foolishness He chose the foolish, and for our weakness He assumed the form of weakness: on account of which our poverty He became poor, and on account of our death He put on the image of death. Therefore, because He sustained in all these things for our sake, I truly say, most beloved in the Lord, that we ought not to give sleep to our eyes, nor slumber to our eyelids ^C, petitioning and urging the inestimable goodness of God the Father, until He goes forth with us, and in this we may have the rest of the arrival of Jesus and of His virtue, so that we may follow the saints who hasten to cultivate us, giving to Him in our time of negligence the eagerness of our souls, to help us in the time of our tribulation: for then he who sows will rejoice together with him who reaps.

IV. I also wish you to know, little children, how great is my sorrow which I have for you, looking upon that great confusion which has come upon all, and considering that great labor of all the saints and the groaning which they emit for you always to God, perceiving the labor of their own Creator, and regarding all malice as small, as well as the snares of the devil and his angels who lie in wait, ^D constant for our perdition. For since their portion is to go into hell, for that reason they also wish to drag our study along with them. Truly, therefore, most beloved in the Lord, just as I am speaking to prudent people, it is that you may know all the dispensations of our Maker made for our sake, which also make a visitation of us through manifest and hidden proclamations. We are called rational; but we bear a rationaless sense, while we are ignorant of the hidden cunning and the multiform arts of the devil, what they are and of what kind they are known to be. For when they perceive that we are striving to know our confusion, and that we are seeking the mode of their efficacy, working in us; and not only that we might not obey...

their malice or the exhortations which they disseminate in our hearts, but also so that many among us might not profess their pursuits: they themselves also, recognizing the indulgence of the Creator—that death occurs on earth for us, while for them hell is prepared as an inheritance on account of their own negligence—implore the kindness of the Father, that you may always be able to have His assistance with you, and that He who is well-disposed may teach you the knowledge of Himself.

VI. Truly, I tell you, my children, that this vessel in which we dwell exists for our destruction, and this house is full of wars. For certain, little children, I tell you that every man who is enticed by his own pleasures, and prostrated by his own thoughts, and embraced by the adversary, has sown in his heart: he rejoices in them, and in his feelings accepts them as if they were great and existing sacraments, in that he acts to justify himself. A soul of this kind coexists with malign spirits and is a counselor to evil; its body, too, is a prison for the horrors it hides within itself. They will prevail, however, against such a person, because he did not expose them before everyone. But do you yourselves not know that they have such traps, which we, by recognizing them, would undoubtedly flee? But even if you look, you will not find their sin nor their iniquity manifest in a bodily way. For the body is the soul's recipient of their malice: and when it has received it, then, if it wishes, it punishes it openly through this body in which we dwell. Now, therefore, little children, let us not give it any place, ^B otherwise we will provoke the wrath of God against ourselves, and they will be mixed into our houses, mocking us; for they know this, that it pertains to our destruction, which nevertheless also consists in that which is near, just as life is nearby. For who has ever looked upon God in such a way that, seeing Him, he rejoiced in Him concerning such a great matter within himself, lest perhaps He might flee from him, but rather so that he might judge himself even as one dwelling in this great burden? Or who has ever looked upon the devil attacking us, and preventing us from obtaining benefits, opposing us and standing in a secret bodily place, so that, foreseeing this, he might flee from him? Indeed, they dwell in secret, but we expose them through better pursuits. ^C

V. I want you to know, little children, that I do not cease praying for you to God night and day, that He Himself may open the eyes of your heart to provide more frequently against their hidden malice, which they shed upon us, one by one, at this present time. I ask also that He may grant you a heart of knowledge, and that He may provide a spirit of discernment, so that you may be able to offer your own heart as a holy sacrifice in the sight of the Father in great holiness and without complaint. For truly, little children, they envy us at every hour with their malign counsel and the persecution which is very great and their malice, as well as with spirits of error or blasphemous thoughts, and our own infidelities which are sown by them in our hearts, and the many sorrows which they inflict upon us at every hour; ^D and also the weaknesses of soul, in which they do not cease to corrupt the soul piece by piece; and in all their anger and slanders, which they teach us to have, and against one another; and so that we might justify ourselves in those things which they do, and the condemnation which is sown by them in our minds, even when we exist individually; and when they make us judge our neighbor, even when he is not present with us: by the presumptions, indeed, which they inject into our hearts, existing in the pride of a hard heart, and despising one another, having bitterness; slandering one another at every hour, and not ourselves; thinking our labor to consist of our own virtue, being judges of manifest things, while the thief changes our whole house from within; and in the quarrels and rivalries and affections against one another, until we make our own speech stand, so that we may appear as justified in our own sight, providing hatred for ourselves and performing pursuits which, however, it is impossible to carry out: for in doing things unseasonably, we are dissolved, because we are of that which has no benefit for us. Because of which they make us laugh in the time of weeping, and weep in the time of laughter: and to say it once and simply, they always transpose us from the straight path into many other delusional things, through which they have reduced us ourselves to be their servants, the time for which is not to be revealed in the open now. But when they have filled our hearts with all these things, and we have become intoxicated by them; then God, as long as our malice conducts itself, is indulgent; and from the rest, making a visitation of us by the resolution of this very heavy body leaving it behind, then He reveals to us the malign works which we performed evilly, exposed in the body of punishment which we have put on through the indulgence of the Creator: then also our last state becomes worse than the first. For this reason, do not be afflicted...

VII. Since, therefore, all are from one Creator according to their sensible existence, but in fleeing from them to God, a great diversity is effected in them on account of their various operations; and for this reason all these names are added to them, on account of the operation of each of them: therefore also some of them are now called archangels, others thrones, and dominions, and powers, and cherubim. These names, however, are added to them for the reason that they guarded the will of their own Creator. Item, because of the crime of other motions, it was necessary to name also those, on account of their malign inventions, the devil and Satan. Moreover, others are called demons and malign spirits, and also of this world, the breath of error, and princes of this age, and many other adversities exist among them. But again, those who have opposed them in this very heavy body in which we also dwell, they too are also called, some patriarchs, others prophets and kings and priests, some judges and apostles, and many other elect ones...

effcted by reason of their excellent movement. ^A All these names are attributed to them, whether male or female, because of the diversities of their operation, and according to their rank, since all are from one. Therefore, whoever sins against his neighbor offends against himself; and he who does evil to his neighbor makes himself evil. Likewise, he who does good to his neighbor does this for himself. But if there be anyone who could sometime sin against God, or who is there who could ever restore Him? Or who was there who would ever have ministered to Him, or who would ever bless Him, such that He would have need of His blessing? For who could honor Him, when He exists as the One to be honored? Or who is there who might be able to exalt Him, when He is considered as the Most High? Wherefore, while we are clothed with this heavy body, let us by an alien invitation stir up God within us, so that, by doing this, we may commend that essence of divine affections [viscera] which is within us. Let us not, however, be lovers of ourselves; if not, we shall be of those of an inconstant portion. For he who has known himself has known all things. Therefore it is written: *He who called from nothing, that all things might exist.* By saying this, they signify the sensible nature, which is hidden in this corruptible body, existing in the beginning, and to be reproved by Him. Or whoever is able to love himself, nonetheless loves all.

VIII. My dearest little children, I beseech you not to labor, nor to be wearied loving one another; but take up the body with which you are clothed, and make it an altar, placing upon it all your deliberation, and leave every evil equipment in the sight of the Lord. Lift up the hands of your heart to Him; that is, the purpose of your actions: and pray to God that He may grant you that invisible and great fire, which, descending from heaven, may consume the altar and all things that are therein; and may all the priests of Baalim, who in truth are the adverse operations, fear, fleeing from your face, just as they did [from] the prophet Elijah. Then at last you will see the footprint of a man in the sea bringing special rain, which is the consolation of the Paraclete Spirit. My most beloved born in the Lord, most holy sons of Israel, there is no need to bless the names of our bodies which are to pass away; for you do not ignore the charity I have toward you, because it is not a corporal charity, but spiritual and loving God. Beloved, in this I am filled, that happiness has come to you at this time. Let the word, therefore, be a judge to you, and do not esteem your institution perfect. What then is the service of God, that our operation should be thus? But there is a certain power cooperating with you. Striving, therefore, to offer yourselves as a sacrifice to God, show yourselves to the power cooperating with you and [offering] the rest of Christ Jesus, since it is united to the whole choir of saints, but [also] to me, a most wretched man living ^B in this muddy and dark house. For what reason should I discourse to you, if not to show you rest? Whence I beseech you, that because we were all created of one invisible substance and having a beginning without an end, we should uniquely love one another; for as many as have known themselves will acknowledge that they exist of one immortal substance.

IX. I also wish you to know that Jesus Christ our Lord is Himself the true sense of the Father, in whom all the fullness of the whole rational nature has been fashioned, especially of those who have been made conformed to His image, the head of the whole creation and body of the Church. For also on this account we are all members of one another and the body of Christ: *neither can the head say to the feet: I have no need of you; but if one member suffers, the whole body is moved with it and suffers.* But of the alienated members of the body, which are not joined to their own head, but given over to filthiness on account of their own libidinous passions, the wound has become incurable, because they have received the oblivion of the beginning and the end. In which even the Creator of creatures, moved in His bowels for our wound which could not be healed except by His own goodness alone, sent the Only-Begotten to us, that through our servitude He might assume the form of a servant, and deliver Himself for our sins. And in truth our sins humbled Him, but by His stripe we were all healed. He gathered us from all regions, until He should make the resurrection of our hearts from the earth, teaching us all that we are of one substance and members of one another. Therefore we ought to love vehemently, because whoever loves his ^C neighbor, loves his own soul.

X. And may this discourse be manifest to you, dearest ones born in the Lord, holy sons of Israel, who have prepared yourselves to go to God, to offer yourselves as a sacrifice to God in all holiness, since no one can receive the inheritance without holiness. Or are you ignorant, most beloved, that the adversaries of virtue always lie in wait for the truth? And therefore, dearest ones, take heed that you give no sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids, crying out to your own Creator day and night, if by chance help should return to you from the Most High, by whose protection your hearts and thoughts may be in Christ. For truly, O little children, we are living in the house of a robber, and are bound in the chains of death. I surely tell you also, that our negligence and humiliation, [our] strange disturbance, is not a detriment to us alone, but creates labor for the angels and for all the saints in Christ Jesus, because they have not yet rested on our account. Truly, my sons, this our humiliation is sadness to them all, just as it is again our salvation and boasting, providing them with rejoicing and rest to all; but that you may know that the kindness of the Father does not cease, from whom the motion was made, by His benefits ^D

^A to look upon one another; when sorrow and sighing have fled away, and when there shall be rejoicing over the head of all. There were also many other things which I would like to say; but if I give occasion to a wise man, he will be yet wiser 21. I greet all my most beloved children in the Lord, by name.

EPISTLE III

^B I. You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty might be enriched 22; but His service delivered us, and His infirmity established the strong. His foolishness made us wise, if indeed, by His own death, He accomplishes our resurrection, so that in this we may be able to lift up a great voice, saying: Though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now we know him so no more, but he is a new creature in Christ 23. Truly, most beloved in the Lord, I tell you that concerning the minutiae of the word of liberty in which we have all been made free, I have many other things to say to you; but this is not the time to say them. Meanwhile, I greet you all, my most beloved children born in the Lord, holy children of Israel, according to your sensible existence. Truly, I say, it was fitting for you, as ones drawing near to your own Creator to seek the salvation of your souls through the law of the testament, although on account of the multitude of malice and malignity, the distinction and pleasures of the passions, that testamentary law grew cold, and the senses of your soul failed in their duty; and therefore you could not perceive the sensible and glorious essence because of the death by which you have fallen. And therefore it is written in the Divine Scripture, that as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive 24. Therefore He is the life of the whole rational nature, created in Him according to the likeness of His image. He also exists as the true sense of the Father. But the image of the Begetter is indeed unchangeable, which was assumed. Beyond that, however, malice has befallen you, in which we have all died; for it is contrary to nature for a sensible substance to be in God. Therefore, he says, it is outside nature for all; we have acquired a dark house and one full of battles. And in this we testify to you, that knowledge of the whole vigor is lacking in us. For which cause also, our Creator God, looking upon our infirmity, because we have been rendered unable to bear the truth; for the sake of this matter, by His own goodness, He came to visit His creatures through the ministry of the saints.

^D II. I beseech you all in the Lord, most beloved, that you may understand what I write to you. Because I have not a carnal love for you, but the charity of the Spirit of the culture of God. Prepare yourselves to go to your Creator. Rend your hearts, and not your garments 25. And know what we can restore to the Lord for all the gifts which He has given to us, and who even until now in this habitation

^A of darkness makes the sun to serve us, commanding also the moon and all the stars to minister to fleeting vanity for the stabilizing of our bodies, and has appointed other many virtues to minister to us, which we do not even see with the eye of the body. What then shall we say, as if we are defrauded of any good which He Himself has not done for us? Have not the patriarchs suffered for us, or the priests taught us? Have not the prophets died for us, or the apostles endured persecution for us? Has not the beloved Son of God died for us all? Because of all these things, we too must hasten to proceed in all holiness toward our Creator: who, ^B seeing that the creature was unable to heal the wound that had been inflicted upon the Jews—that is, His own members—the Father of creatures Himself, knowing the infirmity of their minds, was moved with compassion for them, and according to His great love did not spare His only-begotten Son, but for the salvation of us all delivered Him up for our sins 26. And our iniquities indeed humbled Him, but by His stripes we are all healed. He gathered us from all regions by the word of His power, until He should bring about that resurrection of our minds, teaching us to exist as members one of another.

III. He teaches, therefore, that we who all hasten to our own Creator should exercise our habits and the offices of our senses for recognizing His dignity, and the discernment of good and evil, so that you may know all those dispensations of Jesus which He gave by His own affection, having been made like us in all things, sinning only excepted 28. But because of our great malice and the weight of our malice and the heaviness of our inconstancy, His coming was made, for some indeed a folly, but for others a scandal 29; for one part, a profit; and likewise for others, wisdom and virtue; furthermore for others, resurrection and life. Let this also be manifest to you, that His coming has become a judgment for the whole world. For behold, He says, the days are coming, says the Lord; and all shall know me from the least of them to the greatest, and I will make the hearing until the end of the earth 30; so that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world become subject to God 31. Because when they knew God, they did not glorify Him as their own Creator 32: and that because of their own foolishness, through which they could not even grasp His wisdom. But each one of us sold himself to his own pleasures in evil, and was called a slave to them. Because of which Jesus Himself emptied Himself of His glory, taking the form of a servant 33, so that His servitude might set us free. We were foolish, and in our folly we committed crime. He took upon Himself ^D the habit of foolishness, so that He might make us wise. We were needy, and in our poverty all vigor had failed us. Likewise, He for these reasons assumed the form of need, so that by His poverty He might enrich us in all wisdom and intellect. And not only these things, but moreover He also assumed the figure of our infirmity, so that by His own infirmity He might make us robust, becoming obedient to the Father in all things even unto death, and the death of the cross 34; so that in His death and humiliation He might effect that resurrection of all, and destroy him who had the empire of death, that is, the devil. Therefore, if we shall certainly deliver ourselves at His coming, we shall surely be found to be disciples of Jesus, and be appointed heirs of the divine inheritance.

IV. Most beloved in the Lord, I am troubled vehemently and moved in my spirit, because we are wrapped in names and carry the outward appearances of the saints, boasting in the sight of the infidels. But I fear lest that oracle of Paul be fulfilled in us, where he says: Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof 35. Regarding the charity which I have toward you, I pray for you to God, that you may consider your life, and take as an inheritance those things which are not seen; for it is true, my little children, that even if we give ourselves with all our strength to seek God, not even so will the grace be of equal merit. For we seek that which is our own, and which is natural to our substance. It is also true, most beloved in the Lord, that you have prepared yourselves in all holiness to offer yourselves as a sacrifice to God; because we will conceal nothing from you of those things which were expedient, but making them clear, we will testify to those things which the adversaries of virtue steal from the truth. Know this also, being aware that he who is according to the flesh always persecutes him who is according to the spirit 36; and, that everyone who wants to live godly in Christ, shall suffer persecution 37. On account of which Jesus, knowing all tribulations and temptations, coming into the world to the apostles, and knowing that through His patience He would resolve the whole power of the enemy—that is, idolatry—was comforting them, saying: You have tribulation in the world; but be constant, because I have overcome the world 38. And He was teaching them, saying: Do not fear the world, because all the afflictions of the world are not worthy of the glory which is expected 39. For if they have persecuted the prophets who were before you, they will also persecute you; and if they have hated Me, they will also hate you 40. But be confident, because by your wisdom you will dissolve all the virtue of the enemy. Regarding the small detail of the word of liberty in which we have been liberated, I have many other things to say to you: but if I shall have given an occasion to a wise man, he will be wiser 41. However, we have a need to console one another with some small words; because if the mind has truly perceived, it will no longer have any need of the lying of corporal speech.

V. I rejoice, however, in all of you, beloved in

^A the Lord, holy men of Israel, according to your own sensual existence. For it was fitting first that a rational man should know himself; then that he should know the things that are of God, and all His graces which He always performs with him; and thereafter know that every sin and everything whatsoever that is troublesome, exists outside the nature of sensual existence; finally, seeing that our Creator possesses these things outside of nature by liberal choice, in which they were dying here: on this account, moved in His bowels for us, out of His own goodness He wished to turn us toward that beginning without end; He made a visitation of His creatures, not sparing Himself for the sake of our common salvation. For He indeed delivered Himself for our sins; and our iniquities indeed humbled Him, but by His stripes we are all healed. By the Word of His power He also gathered us from all regions, from the ends of the earth to the extremity of the globe, teaching that we were members ^B one of another. Wherefore if we have certainly prepared ourselves to be made free in His advent, the rational man should examine himself, what he might be able to render to God for all the gifts He has bestowed upon us. Whence I also, who have described this letter, having been awakened from the sleep of death, consider that most of the time which was spent by me upon the earth to be mourning and weeping, lamenting what I can render to the Lord for all that He has done for me. For we have in no way been frustrated in those things which He has not accomplished for us in our humility. He made His angels minister to us, and commanded His own prophets to prophesy, and ordered His own apostles to evangelize us. But furthermore, that which is the most illustrious of all precepts is that He made His Only-Begotten take on the form of a servant for our sake. Know also ^C that all who bear the Spirit within themselves will be looked upon and clothed with that garment with which we were stripped according to our sensual existence. For there comes often a voice, always from God the Father to all those who bear Him within themselves, saying to them: Console, console my people, saith the Lord; and O priests, speak unto the heart of Jerusalem. For God has made a continuous visitation of His creatures, manifesting His own goodness. And truly, beloved, according to the minutiae of the word of liberty in which we have been set free, there are also many other things that might be said to you: but if I shall give occasion to a wise man, he will be wiser. And may the God of peace give you the grace of discernment, that you may know whatsoever I write to you, that it is a commandment of the Lord. May the same God of all grace guard you holy in the Lord ^D even unto the last breath. I pray to God always for the salvation of you all, most beloved in the Lord. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

EPISTLE IV.

I. To the most beloved and honorable, greeting in the Lord. Truly, most beloved in the Lord, because God does not make a visitation to His creatures at one time only, but from the foundation of the world, whoever has come to the Creator God through the testamentary law, to them God is present individually in simplicity according to grace through His Spirit. But concerning rational natures in which that testament has grown cold, and the duties of whose minds have been mortified, so that they no longer seek to know themselves according to their prior condition, others having become altogether irrational served the creature ^B rather than the Creator. But the same Creator, out of His own goodness, brought about our visitation through the testamentary law, since the substance is immortal. Therefore, whoever have been deemed worthy of grace, and have grown through their cardinal law, and have been taught by the Holy Spirit, receiving the spirit of adoption of sons, these also have prevailed to adore their own Creator as is fitting. Of whom Paul says, that they did not receive the promises because of us. ^C

II. In His unstinting affection, God willing to make a visitation of cooling and of order for all of us, aroused Moses, the teacher of the law, that he might give us the law in the letter. And He Himself founded for us the house of truth, which is the catholic Church which He created, God willing to convert us to the first beginning. And because Moses indeed built as a predecessor, therefore we shall not fear to assert that the same lawgiver is one of the forerunners: and because the Spirit that was with Moses is the same that has worked in the choir of the saints, and all have petitioned for the Only-Begotten of God. Also John stands as one of the forerunners; and therefore the law and the prophets were until John; the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.

^A they seize it. But those who were guided by the Spirit foresaw that no creature could cure that exceedingly great wound, except only the beatitude of God, who is His Only-Begotten, and whom He also destined for the salvation of the whole world, who is also the great physician capable of curing this vast wound through His goodness: the Father of creatures did not spare His Only-Begotten for our sake, giving Him up for our salvation and for our sins and iniquities. [note: scriptural citations omitted] And He indeed humbled Himself, but by His stripes we are all healed; and by the word of His power He gathered us from all regions, from the extremity of the earth to the outermost part of the world, effecting the resurrection of our hearts from the earth, and He taught us to exist as members one of another.

III. I beseech you, therefore, dearly beloved in the Lord, that you understand the scriptures, for they are the commands of God. For it is a great thing for us to turn our mind towards the form that Jesus assumed for our sake, since in all things He was made like us, except for sin. It is right, furthermore, that we should ourselves set ourselves free in anticipation of His advent, and that His foolishness should make us wise, His poverty make us rich, and His infirmity show us to be robust, and that He should become the resurrection of all, destroying him who has the dominion of death. For then, at the advent of Jesus, we shall cease to have work according to the flesh. For Jesus works with us in this good service, until we destroy all malice. Then, too, Jesus will say to us: I will no longer call you servants, but friends. When, therefore, God so called them that they might receive the spirit of the adoption of sons, then the Holy Spirit also taught them to adore the Father as was fitting. Whence it is that to me, the most wretched, joined to Jesus, this time in which we have arrived has become both a cause for rejoicing, and for grief, and for weeping. Since many of our kin have put on the vestments of piety, but have denied its power. Wherefore, I rejoice in those who have prepared themselves to be free at the advent of Jesus; but I mourn for those who invoke the name of Jesus, yet do the wills of the heart and the flesh. Likewise, I weep for those who, contemplating the length of time, have become fainthearted and have stripped themselves of the cloak of piety, becoming like beasts.

IV. Let those of this sort recognize the one who says: "For I will no longer call you servants, but friends and brothers; because all things that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you." Those who confess in their mind what they have recognized regarding themselves according to their sensual substance, gave voice, saying: "Even if we have known [Him] according to the flesh, now we know Him so no longer." And those who, receiving the spirit of the adoption of sons, cried out, saying: "For you have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption, in which we cry: Abba, Father." Now, therefore, O God, we have recognized all that You have bestowed upon us, and we know that we are sons, and heirs. ^B We are heirs of God, and joint-heirs of Christ. Therefore, let this discourse be manifest to you, that unless one has prepared his own amendment, and has striven with all his strength, the advent of the Savior will turn into judgment for him. For to some it is the odor of death unto death, but to some the odor of life unto life; because He is set for the ruin and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign of contradiction. Wherefore I beseech you, do not neglect your own salvation; but let each one of you rend your heart, and not your garments, lest, being clothed in an unjust habit, we prepare judgment for ourselves. For behold, the time already approaches in which the works of each one of you will be tested. Concerning the detail of the word, there were other things that could be written to you, but it is written: "Give an occasion to a wise man, and he will be wiser." I greet you all in the Lord, from the least to the greatest. May the God of peace guard you all, dearly beloved.

LETTER V

I. Anthony to my most beloved, the Israelite children according to their sensual existence: for it is not necessary to name things that pass away, because you are the children of Israel. Furthermore, truly, my children, the love that I have for you is not a corporeal love, but it is the charity of the spirit of the cultivation of God. Moreover, because of this I do not grow weary, beseechng God day and night for you, that you might be able to recognize the grace that has been granted to you. For God does not make the visitation of His creatures at one time, but from the foundation of the world, God governs His own creatures, by individual generations awakening each one by certain occasions and grace. ^C Now, therefore, little children, do not be negligent, crying out to the Lord day and night, entreating the kindness of the Father, that He may grant you this help from heaven, teaching you until you know what it holds within itself. For indeed, little children, we who consist in our own slaughter, dwelling and remaining in the house of the thief, are not now bound by the chains of death. Wherefore, do not give sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids, offering yourselves as a sacrifice to God in all holiness, which no one can inherit without sanctimony. Truly, dearly beloved in the Lord, let this discourse be manifest to you, and may you do that which is good, in which you will also refresh all the saints, providing the alacrity of spirits, the service of angels, and the rejoicing of Jesus, since they have not yet had rest on account of us up to this hour, and neither has my own self, the most wretched, dwelling in this clay house, [had] that same joy in my spirit. Truly, indeed, little children, because our inconvenience and uselessness causes pain to them all, they use tears and groans for us in the sight of the Creator; and on this account, God even grows angry at the works of all men because of our evil deeds, on account of the groaning of the saints: just as...

^A again it is a progress and amendment of our souls, it provides alacrity to the choir of the saints. And it is utilized by much prayer and joy in exultation before our Creator. He himself also, the Fashioner of all things, rejoices in our works, and on account of the testimony of the saints, he grants us immense charisms.

II. Therefore, so that you may know that God delights in his own creation—in that it is of immortal existence, it is not to be resolved into bodies—looking upon the sensual nature itself (which, having died, had completely gone down into the abyss, and had cooled that testamentary refreshment), then the same God, by his own goodness, visits it from death, willing to build through Moses and to cure a great plague, yearning to turn it to its former concord, but being powerful, he departed from them. Moreover, even the entire choir of the prophets built upon the foundation of Moses, but neither were they able to heal the huge plague of their members; and perceiving that their power had ceased, the whole choir of the saints, again gathered together into one, brings its prayers into the sight of its own Creator, saying: "Is there no balm in Gilead, or is there no physician there? Why then has not the health of the daughter of my people gone up?" "Lord, we have cured Babylon, and she is not healed: now we shall flee from her." With all asking for the kindness of the Father concerning the Only-begotten, that unless he himself should cure it on earth, no creature could cure the huge plague. On account of this matter, by his own goodness, he gave forth a voice, saying: "Son of man, I prepare for you the vessels of captivity." Therefore, the will of the Father did not spare the Only-begotten for the sake of our salvation, but delivered him up for our sins. And indeed our iniquities humbled him, ^B but by his stripes we are all healed; he himself gathering us from all regions from the height of the earth to the extremity of the world, making a resurrection of our senses from the earth, and teaching that we are members of one another.

III. Give attention, therefore, little children, lest by chance that oracle of Paul be fulfilled in you: "Having indeed a form of piety, but denying the power thereof." Wherefore let each one of us rend his own heart, weeping in his sight, and saying: "What shall I render to the Lord for all the goods that he has rendered to me?" I fear again, little children, lest by chance that saying be fulfilled in you: "What profit is in my blood, while I descend into corruption?" Truly, little children, since I speak to the prudent, so that you may understand what I say to you: that unless each one of you casts off all the dust of the nature of this kind of matter, and renounces it and every operation of it with all his heart, and spreads forth the hands of the heart upward to the Father of all things, and he himself be moved in his bowels concerning his labor, and grants him the invisible fire which may burn away all impurity from him, and purifying the principle itself; then he may cause his holy Spirit to dwell with us, and thus we may be able to ^C dwell near the Father as is fitting; for as long as we grow weary from natural matter, we exist as enemies of the angels of God and his saints.

IV. Now therefore I beseech you, most beloved, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you may not wish to neglect your own life, nor let the shortness of time confuse that time without end, lest the skin of corruptible flesh obscure the kingdom of ineffable light, nor let the place of deathly condemnation exterminate the seats among the angels. Truly, little children, because my soul suffers a phantasm, and my spirit stands in dread, because we are all immersed as if in a whirlpool, and we stand as if drunk with must, when each one of us is distracted by his own will. For we are subjugated to the dominion of this, not wishing to lift our eyes to seek the glory of heaven, and to follow in the footsteps of that illustrious action of all the saints. Therefore, so that you may know that the holy angels of heaven—whether seats, or dominions, or cherubim, or seraphim, or sun, or moon, or stars, or patriarchs, or prophets, or apostles, or the devil, or Satan, or malignant spirits, or the princes of this air, and (lest I say more) whether male or female—according to the principle of their own creation are all from one, except for the only perfect and blessed Trinity of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Spirit. Truly, on account of the movement of some, it was necessary that God should call these by name, and according to their strivings, he attributes to those who have progressed further ^D the superexcellent glory of dignity.

LETTER VI

1. A rational man ought to be prepared, so that he may liberate himself at the advent of the Son of God, knowing himself to be according to his own sensual existence. Because whoever knows himself will know the dispensation of his own Creator, or whatever he does in his own creatures. Most beloved to us in the Lord, our members and coheirs of the saints, I beseech you in the name of Jesus Christ to act, so that he himself may grant to you all a spirit of discretion to discern and to know the love that I have in you, because it is not a corporal love, but is a spiritual charity of divine culture. But concerning the names of our bodies, there is no need for them to be named; for they pass away. But let man know that which is the true name. On account of which also, when Jacob struggled through the whole night with the angel, his name was Jacob. But when morning was made, he called his name Israel; which is, a mind seeing God. For I suppose that you are not ignorant that the adversaries of virtue besiege the truth. Whence also God visits his own creatures not only at one time, but from the beginning of the world. For some have prepared themselves to come to their own Creator through his testamentary law, taught by him to adore their own Maker as is fitting. But since on account of the passion of infirmity, and the heaviness of the body, and distraction...

of the senses, they could not properly seek out, according to their own creation, what might be the immortal substance, not to be dissolved by bodies: whence neither did it prevail to free itself from injustice. For this reason, God approached them through the written law, that he might teach them to adore the Father as is fitting. But since God exists as one, and according to sensual essence there is unity in the same, let this speech be manifest to you, that in every place where there is not concord, there they heap up wars for themselves, and cause judgments to arise among themselves.

II. But the Creator, seeing that the plague of them had been greatly magnified, and that the work required the remedy of Jesus, the true physician (for he himself is their Unigenitor, the Creator, and he himself heals them), sent before him the instructor of the house; but he, achieving nothing, departed. Likewise, God stirred up the ^B choirs of the prophets by his Spirit, who indeed built upon the foundation of Moses; yet not even these could [succeed], but in the same way they left off and departed. And they themselves, all bearing the Spirit within them, perceived that the plague was incurable, and that it could be cured by no creature, save by the Unigenitor who is the sense of the Father, and exists as his image; by the likeness of which image all creation was made. Recognizing clearly that this Savior and physician was great, they all gathered into the same, and offered prayers for their fellow-members, who are we, proclaiming and saying: Is there no balm in Gilead, or is there no physician there? Why then has not the health of the daughter of my people ascended? Because we have cured her, and she is not healed: now therefore we will go from them. But God himself stood by you through his saints with supereminent and unfeigned love, saying: Son of man, make for yourself vessels of captivity. He also, existing in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant; and was made obedient even unto death, even the death of the cross: for which cause God also has exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that in the name of Jesus Christ every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and every tongue should ^C confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.

III. Now therefore, most beloved, let this speech be manifest to you, that the kindness of the Father did not spare the Unigenitor for our sake; but delivered him up for the salvation of us all, he himself delivering himself for our sins. And indeed our iniquities humbled him; but by his stripe we are healed. He also, by the word of his power, gathered us from all regions from the end of the earth even to the end of the world, making the resurrection of our senses and the remission of sins, teaching us to exist as members one of another. Wherefore, brothers, I beseech you in the name of Jesus Christ, that you recognize this so great dispensation, that he was like unto us in all things, sin excepted. But all reasonable nature, for the sake of which the Savior especially came, ought to judge its own habit and the ignorance of its own sense, and to give distinction between the medium of evil and good, seeking to be freed through his advent. For indeed, as many as have been made free through his dispensation, they are called servants of God. Which, however, is not yet perfect, except that it exists only as just in its own time, and leads to the adoption of sons; for that Savior of ours, knowing that it approached to receive the spirit of the adoption of sons, granted that they also could recognize him, taught by the Holy Spirit, that the advent of Jesus was made a judgment to men. Whence also you, most beloved in the Lord, recognize yourselves, that you may be able to recognize both this and the time, and be prepared to offer yourselves as a sacrifice to God.

IV. Truly, most beloved in the Lord, I write this to you as to reasonable beings, and as to those who have been able ^D to recognize yourselves. For I know that whoever shall have recognized himself, shall recognize God also. But he who shall have recognized God, shall recognize his dispensations, which he accomplishes in his own creatures. Let this speech also be manifest to you, that I have not corporeal love toward you, but the charity of the spirit of the culture of God, namely of that God who glories in the council of the just. Prepare therefore yourselves while you have those who may pray for you, and asking for your salvation, that the fire which he himself came to send upon the earth, he may cast into your hearts, that you may be able to exercise your habits; and he may give the offices of the senses to know how to discern the malign from the good, the right hand from the left, the unsubstantial from the substance. For Jesus, knowing that the empire of the devil makes matter, calling the disciples said to them: Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon the earth: nor be solicitous for the morrow; for the morrow will be solicitous for itself. Truly, brothers, you know that in a time of prosperous winds, every pilot applauds himself, but in the contrary winds of any kind, every pilot is made manifest. Understand therefore the time into which we have come, of what kind it is. But concerning the minutiae of the word of liberty, there were many things that could be said to you; but if I shall have given occasion to a wise man, he will be wiser. I salute you from the least to the greatest.

LETTER VII

Antonius, to all most beloved brothers in the Lord, greeting. I do not fail remembering you, who [index: entries preserved]

are members of the Catholic Church. Moreover, I wish you to acknowledge the love which I bear toward you; for it is not corporeal, but is a love of the Spirit of the culture of God. For the friendship of our bodies exists in unsteadiness and inconstancy, which is often moved by extraneous winds. But all who fear the Lord and keep His commandments are servants of God. Yet there is no perfection in that servitude itself, except that it holds only to what is just, leading to the adoption of sons. Because of this, both prophets and apostles, and all the choir of saints, were accepted by God, so that through the will of the Father, having been bound by the apostolic preaching so that it might be believed in Him, they were made Christ’s. Finally, Paul says: "Bound to Jesus Christ, a called apostle." Let the written law, therefore, be a helper to you in this service, until we are able to master every vice, and be perfected in the excellent ministry of virtue through the apostolic mandate. For if we have been made near to receiving, then Jesus will say to you: "For I will no longer call you my servants, but friends and brothers, because all things that I have heard from my Father, I have made known to you." For as many as have proposed, instructed by the Holy Spirit, these have known themselves according to their own sensual existence; and in this very knowledge of themselves they have proclaimed, saying: "For you have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption of sons, in which we cry, 'Abba, Father'": that we may know how great things God has bestowed upon us, because we are both sons and heirs: heirs, indeed, of God, coheirs of the saints. Most beloved brothers and coheirs of the saints, all virtue is not foreign to you, but exists as your own; provided, however, that you be blameless from an evil life, and manifest to God. For the Spirit of God will not enter into a malicious soul, nor reside in a body subject to sins: for truly virtue is holy, fleeing from all guile. Truly, most beloved, because I write to you as to those who are rational and as it were able to know yourselves; for he who has known himself has known God; but he who has known God, this one must adore Him as it is fitting. And, dearest in the Lord, know yourselves, because those who know themselves have also known the time; but those who have known the time, they will be able to establish themselves immovable from the diversity of tongues. But concerning Arius, who arose in Alexandria and speaks strange words about the Only-Begotten; to whom, who is and who is from time, he did not ascribe time; and being incessant, he did not give an end among creatures; being immovable, he did not affix immobility. ^{A B C D}

TWENTY LETTERS OF OUR HOLY FATHER ANTONY THE GREAT, FATHER OF ALL MONKS, Now first made into Latin law from the Arabic by Abraham Ecchellensis, Maronite from Lebanon.

IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, OF THE ONE GOD. We begin with the help of our Lord Jesus Christ (whose memory is adoration) to write the twenty Epistles of our holy Father, Abbot Anthony, to his sons the monks. May his prayer be with us. Amen.

LETTER I, Which he spoke concerning the departure from the world to the monastic life.

By three ways, indeed, does the departure from the world come about. First, and before all things, I desire your salvation in the Lord. I say, however, that the spirits to whom the evangelization of the Spirit of God has reached, from among men and women, are in a triple order. The first of these are those who have received in the law of nature and of the liberty bestowed upon them at the beginning, whatever reached them from the evangelization through the word, and they did not delay, but prepared, they hastened, just as our father Abraham was prepared in the law of nature: wherefore God spoke to him, saying: "Go forth out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee"; and do not be of a double heart. And Abraham was prepared by this vocation, and was made an example for beginners; and even now this vocation remains for those who wish to enter according to this manner; if they act accordingly, so that their heart is prepared to follow the Spirit of God, thus surely will they receive the promises with rest. And this is the principle of these.

But the second order of them are those who hear the written law attesting to them the judgment that will be for sinners, and the good promises that will be for those who act well; and because of these testimonies written in the law, their souls have awakened, and they have labored to enter into this vocation, as the prophet David says: "The law of the Lord converteth souls"; and he also said:

"Thy words give light to me, and Thy law teacheth the little ones." And many other things of this kind are written.

The third order is that of those whose hearts are hardened and who have contracted the habit of committing sin; wherefore the merciful God brings upon them afflictions and tribulations, so that their hidden thoughts and consciences may be awakened by the multitude of things that befall them; and they may repent, and turn back, and prepare themselves, and enter into this vocation, and do penance with their whole heart; and they may receive the promises, even as the other two orders, the first and the second. These, then, are the three ^A orders by which souls are called to return to the Lord, to obtain the grace of God the Son of God.

I say, moreover, that all who have entered [this way] with their whole heart should learn patience, so that they may be able to withstand the enemy. For before all things the Holy Spirit calls them, and makes all things easy for them, so that the entrance into repentance may become sweet to them, and He shows them its ways according to truth, so that they may repent in spirit and body; and they may return to God the Creator, who will strengthen them to restrain the body and the spirit, that they may cleanse their words, and become heirs of eternal life. The body, indeed, is restrained by much fasting and vigils and struggles, and other ministries, and the labor of bodily fruits. Wherefore the spirit of repentance will be a consolation to him, and will teach him not to turn back, and not to cling to any of the things of this world. Furthermore, He opens the eyes of the soul to pure repentance, so that it may be cleansed together with the body, and both may be one in purity. For this is the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, who goes before them and cleanses them, and deletes from them the natures mixed with envy, and transfers them to the primitive condition which was before disobedience, until nothing remains in man of those things that belong to the enemy. Then the body will follow the will of the intellect; for the intellect cleanses it in food and drink and sleep and its other actions, and it learns perpetually from the Holy Spirit, as the Apostle said: "I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection." For it does not escape me that there are three motions in the body. The first is always in it, nor does it have any power of acting without the will of the soul. The second motion moves the body to food and drink—desirable things—since the heat of the blood, which arises from the abundance of food, wages war against the body and deflects it towards evil concupiscences. Wherefore Christ our Lord (to whom be glory) admonished His disciples, saying to them: "Take heed lest your hearts be burdened with surfeiting and drunkenness." And the Apostle Paul says: "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is luxury." Therefore it behooves all who put on the monastic habit to say with Paul: "I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection." But there is a third motion from the spirit ^B of evils, to turn them away who desire to enter the door of purity.

But if the soul is trained in perpetual patience, and in the testimonies which are from God Himself, the Holy Spirit will instruct the intellect so that it may cleanse the soul and the body from these three motions. But if a man has despised these testimonies and documents which he has already heard, then the evil spirits will prevail against him, and they will defile his body, and his soul will be in doubt as to whence help shall come to him. But if it has turned back and adhered to the Spirit of salvation, then it will know that the patience which is in the Lord is its rest and peace. Now these things which I have said are for the concord of body and soul in repentance. But when the intellect has obtained this grace, then it will seek the Holy Spirit, and will begin to cast away from the soul all the arduous things that arise from the concupiscences of the heart. This Spirit, however, if it has had participation with the intellect on account of the observance of the precepts which it has learned, will direct it to remove the individual passions from the soul, which have already been admixed with the body; and also the passions peculiar to it which are within it, [it] will utterly pluck out from the crown of the head to the sole of the feet; and it directs the eyes, so that they may shine with uprightness and see with purity, and that there may remain in them naught that is alien; and the ears, that they may listen in peace, ^C and not in whispering nor in reproach ever, but in uprightness, and attend in purity and mercy to every creature; and it directs the tongue, that it may speak with purity, and that the soul may instruct the tongue to utter good things perpetually: for these passions have dominated it, with the tongue as mediator, as the apostle James says: "If any man think himself to be religious, and bridle not his tongue, he seduceth his own heart, and his religion is vain." He also says in another place: "The tongue is a little member, and it defileth the body"; and very many things of this kind are extant in the sacred Scriptures. But when the intellect has been strengthened, and has received from the Spirit, it will be cleansed; then it will investigate concerning each of the words which the tongue shall speak, that no carnal will may be in it; and from that shall be fulfilled the saying of Solomon saying: "In the words that were given to me by God, there is no crookedness or perversity." He says also: "The tongue of the just healeth from infirmities." Moreover, also in the hands there are other motions working sometimes according to the propensity of the soul: which indeed is not consonant, ^D when the spirit has destined them for purity and elevation in prayers, and for mercy and generosity; and it is to be fulfilled concerning them what is written of holy prayers: "Let the lifting up of my hands be as an evening sacrifice." But concerning mercy and generosity, he says: "My strong hands distribute with speed." Let the belly also beware of food and drink, as the Spirit says through the tongue of David: "I will not eat with a greedy man."

^A If the force of food, drink, and insatiability prevails over it, and the concupiscible soul is enticed to these things, then the power of the enemy will surely be mingled with it.

EPISTLE II

Furthermore, God’s Spirit will direct those who seek this measure and purity to straight paths; and purity and the uprightness of the flesh will aid them, and that saying of the Apostle Paul will be fulfilled in them: "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." For if the aforementioned three impulses prevail over the body and lead it away from rectitude, the soul, desiring salvation in truth, will remove them from itself with tranquility and will persist in purity. Since the Spirit has now become an asylum for this soul, He will increase it with strength and will extinguish from it all evil impulses, just as the Apostle Paul teaches us, saying: "Mortify your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil concupiscence;" and the rest of this kind. The feet also, if they are not upright and have not walked according to the will of God in freedom, the heart, which is filled with grace, guards and directs according to the will of the Holy Spirit, to serve in the best things, so that the body may be perfected in all good and brought under the power of the Holy Spirit. I say indeed that such a body is already rendered a participant in the body that is to rise in the resurrection of the just. We assert this, however, because of the passions of the soul, which, since they are mingled with the body, move ^C it and incline it toward evil spirits, serving them in all its members. I say, moreover, that the soul has other impulses, as has been said, which we wish to indicate to you. These are pride, various passions apart from the passions of the body, injuries to be inflicted on men, anger, pusillanimity, forgetfulness, and the rest of the passions. But if the soul surrenders itself to God with all its might, the good God will bestow true repentance upon it, and will cleanse its individual passions, so that it may turn away from them, lest the impulses of the enemies prevail against it through temptations: for this is their intent, that it might not be rescued from them at all. But if it persists in patience and good obedience to the Holy Spirit, who draws it to repentance, the merciful Creator will have compassion on its labors, and the labors of the body, which are extreme fasting, frequent vigils, meditation on the divine Scriptures, prayer without ceasing, serving all men in purity of heart, and poverty of spirit. If it persists in these, the good God will look upon it and will defend it from all temptations, and will rescue it through His mercy: for He is a lover of men. To whom belongs praise, and to His only-begotten Son, and to His holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.

^D Antony, writing to his most beloved sons in the Lord, sends greeting. Behold, most beloved: it is not for one time only that God visits His creature; rather, He does so at all times, from the foundation of the world until its end. Whoever, therefore, seeks the Lord with solicitude and love, according as he perceives from His teachings, He Himself will be with him and will bestow upon him the grace of the Holy Spirit. But when rational natures, which are participants in bodies, have been weakened and altered because of the impulses of the soul, and have been deadened so that they cannot think of their primary condition, but have become like a beast of burden ^B and have served creatures more than the Creator, the Creator of all visits His creature through the power of His goodness with His life-giving laws. But those who have merited this grace, and have walked in the laws with all their power and will, and have received the spirit of adoption, and have been taught by the Holy Spirit, have preferred to worship the Creator, as is fitting, according to the dictum of the Apostle Paul: "That they who were approved by the testimony of their faith, did not receive the promise, God providing some better thing for us, that they should not be made perfect without us." ^C But because of the magnitude of His goodness (since He is God of all) He willed to visit our infirmity, appointing for us Moses as a legislator, into whose hands He delivered the Law, and laid the foundation of the true house, which is the one rational Church; for He intends to restore the creature to its primary condition. Moses therefore built the house, which he did not complete: but having left it, he departed. But God substituted after him a choir of prophets by the same Spirit: who also built upon this same foundation which Moses had laid, but had not completed; but they also departed, having left it. Hence these spiritual fathers of ours, when they saw that this disease was incurable, knew that no creature could heal it, except the Only-Begotten of the Father alone, who is the form of His eternity, through whom all creation was made, which is His likeness; and they were made certain that He alone is the deliverer and physician. Wherefore they earnestly prayed for us (since we are participants in their members), saying: "Is there no balm in Gilead; or is there no physician? Why then is the wound of the daughter of my people not closed?" ^D "We have given our medicines, and it is not healed; let us therefore abandon it." But God the Word, in His incomprehensible charity, came to us according to the oracles of the holy prophets: "Son of man, take unto thee an instrument of captivity:" which is He who is perfect in the figure of God, who did not by robbery take that which is, to be equal to God; but He humbled Himself, and took the form of a servant (and was made like unto us men, except for sin) even unto the death of the cross: pro-

^A for which cause God hath highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Therefore, for the future, most beloved, let this discourse be manifest to you: that God the Father in His goodness did not spare His only-begotten Son, but delivered Him up for our liberation from our iniquities and our sins; and He was humbled for us and healed us by His sorrows, and by the word of His power He gathered us together from the four corners of the earth and the whole habitable world; and He assured us of the resurrection and salvation from our sins, and that we are members one of another. I beseech you, therefore, most beloved brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you acknowledge this great dispensation, namely, that God the Word was made like unto us in all things except sin. For it is fitting for all who are endowed with reason to know this according to intellectual understanding, and to distinguish between good and evil, that they might be free at His coming to us. Those, however, who have been made free and have used His dispensation are His servants. Nor indeed is this calling the perfection; rather, justice in its own time is the perfection which directs toward sonship. Wherefore, when our Lord Jesus Christ knew that His disciples had already attained to sonship, and had known Him, and had been taught by the Holy Spirit, He said to them: *I henceforth call you not servants, but friends and brothers, because all things that I have heard of the Father I have made known unto you.* Therefore, those who have known the true reason of their intellectual substance have uttered their voices, saying: *We have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry, Abba (Father).* Truly, Lord, we know all things that You have bestowed upon us; for if we are sons, we are also heirs, and friends and partakers of the inheritance of Jesus Christ. Let this discourse therefore be known to you: that whoever shall not be prepared to rise with all his strength, let him know that the coming of the Lord the Liberator will be unto him for judgment; for we are *to some indeed the savour of death unto death, but to others the savour of life unto life.* For He is set for the fall and resurrection of many of the children of Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken against. I beseech you, therefore, most beloved brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you be not slothful concerning your salvation, but that *each of you rend his heart, and not his garments*: lest, clothed in the habit of monkery, we prepare for ourselves judgment; for the time is near for judging each one according to his works. But because of the obscurity of this discourse, I had intended to write more to you; yet I have refrained, because of Him who says: *Give an occasion to a wise man, and wisdom shall be added to him.* I speak to you of salvation in the Lord, to the greatest and to the least; and may the grace of the Lord be with you, most beloved children, unto ages of ages. Amen.

LETTER III

To his disciples the monks: whom he incites to action with authorities from the Gospel and the Apostle. He says:

My little children, if a rational man prepares himself to defend his freedom on the day of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, let him recognize himself by his intellectual substance; for he who recognizes himself, recognizes also the dispensations of the Creator in His most beloved creatures in the Lord, and their participation in the eternal inheritance of the fellowship of the saints. Wherefore I beseech you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you diligently pay your debts to the Lord, that He may grant to all of you the spirit of ^C discretion, to discern and know the charity which is in you, not to be carnal, but spiritual charity. Therefore, we do not call you by your carnal names, because these are to pass away, but by the permanent ones. Since everyone knows the true name by respect to the name of truth; just as the name Jacob was before, when he was by night with the angel; whose name, at the dawning of the morning, He called Israel. But the interpretation of Israel is: the intellect looking toward God. Indeed, I know that it does not escape your notice that the adversaries of virtue perpetually intend the destruction of truth. But God at all times visits His creature from the foundation of the world even unto eternity. Wherefore, those who desire to approach the Creator from the whole law of their hearts, He Himself will teach them in what manner they ought to worship Him. But when, because of the excessive weakness and heaviness of the corpse, and the struggle of malignant hosts, the senses of this apparent body have withered, and the senses of the soul have been destitute of strength (inasmuch as it is not dissoluble with the body, and its substance is immortal, nor can it vindicate itself by its own justice); therefore they are unable to attain what is peculiar to themselves, that they might be able to restore themselves to their primary condition. For this reason God has worked with them by His goodness, and has taught them to worship the Father as is fitting; for God is one; and the intellectual substance is likewise placed in unity. Let this discourse therefore be manifest to you, that all who are gathered together, unless they have one heart, will induce struggles into their souls, and will bring judgment upon themselves. When, therefore, the Creator sees that the wound of the creature has already been dilated, and that it is in need of physicians to prepare health, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is its Creator and Physician, sent before Him preachers; nor do we doubt to assert that Moses, the greatest of the prophets and the legislator, is one of the preachers. But the Spirit who worked in Moses, the same works in the remaining saints after him, who all spoke concerning the only-begotten Son of God. By a like reasoning, John indeed is one of the preachers: inasmuch as the law was until John, and from then it suffers violence.

^A And these all, clothed in God, knew that no creature could cure such and so great a wound, except the goodness of the only-begotten Son of God, whom He sent for the salvation of the whole habitable globe. For He Himself is that great Physician who can heal this huge wound. But the Father, in His goodness, did not spare His Only-Begotten, but delivered Him up for our sins, and for the liberation of us all from our iniquities; and the Only-Begotten offered Himself for us, and by this He healed us all, and by the virtue of His word gathered us from the whole world, from the ends of the earth to its very ends; and He established in our hearts a resurrection from the earth, and made it known to us that we are members of one another.

I ask you, therefore, most beloved in the Lord, to weigh the Scripture, as you know that these are the precepts of God. This is a great thing for us, to know the form of our Lord, which He assumed for us, and (that) He was made like us in all things, sin excepted; and therefore it behooves us to become free, that we may rejoice in His advent. Since by His foolishness we have been made wise, and by His poverty we have been made rich, and by His infirmity we have been made strong; and He Himself has been made to us all a resurrection, removing from us the power of death. Hence we have found rest, and need no other Jesus in the flesh: for the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ made our servitude an excellent one, and removed all evils; then He said: "I no longer call you servants, but my brothers." And when they were about to receive the spirit of adoption, the Holy Spirit taught them to worship the Father, as is fitting. But I, a wretched man bound in Jesus Christ, say that from this time in which we are, we have begun to possess joy, and lamentation, and weeping. Since many of our kind have donned the habit of religion: of whom some have labored with all their heart after having obtained manumission through the advent of Christ the Lord; and these indeed are they for whose sake I rejoice. But others, having denied the virtue of this, have labored according to the will and inclination of their heart and flesh; and for this reason the advent of the Lord has become a torment to them, and these are truly they for whom I mourn. Furthermore, others, considering the duration and distance of time, have fallen in their heart; wherefore, having cast off the habit of religion, they have become like beasts; and these also are they over whom I weep, since the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ has been made for them into a judgment. Wherefore, most beloved in the Lord, recognize the time, and be with all your heart a sacrifice to God. For surely, most beloved in the Lord, I have written to you, as it is written for rational men who are able to perceive the Scripture; for it does not escape me that he who perceives the Scripture easily knows God: but he who knows God knows the dispensations which He works in His creatures. Let therefore ^B this discourse be known to you, as I have said above, that it is not with carnal affection that I have written to you, but with the spiritual affection of God, who is glorified in the council of the saints. Recognize also with all your strength Him who prays to God for your sake, that the fire which the Lord Jesus Christ cast upon the earth, He may cast into your hearts; that you may direct your purposes and your senses, and be able to distinguish between good and evil, and those who are of the right hand and those who are of the left, and the stable from the unstable. For the Lord, knowing the devil to be a seducer, therefore commanded His disciples, saying: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth." He said furthermore: "Do not therefore be anxious for the morrow; for the morrow will be anxious for itself." Indeed I say, my brothers, in the time of the leveling of the winds all sailors cast themselves about; but upon a change of winds occurring, the knowledge of skilled sailors becomes known. For which cause you should weigh what this time is in which we are. But concerning these words and their obscurity, more remains for me to say, but since he who says it says: "Give an occasion to a wise man, and wisdom will be added to him"; I say to all of you salvation, to the greatest and the least, in the Lord: to whom be praise always unto the ages.

EPISTLE IV.

Anthony writes greeting to his sons most beloved in the Lord. I never cease from the memory of you, ^C sharers of the orthodox Church. But I wish you to know that my charity towards you is by no means carnal, but spiritual; for carnal participation is unstable and inconstant: for it is moved with external winds. Whoever, therefore, fears the Lord, and keeps His precepts, he shall be a servant to God. But this servitude in which we dwell is by no means servitude, but justice leading to the way of adoption. Wherefore our Lord chose prophets and apostles, and committed to them the apostolic evangelization, and they are bound in Jesus Christ. For the apostle Paul says: "I, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, called an Apostle." Also, the book of the law established for us an excellent servitude, that we may be able to dominate all the passions, and perform the best ministry of virtue, about which the Apostle has spoken. But as we draw nearer to grace, our Lord Jesus Christ will say, as He said to His disciples: "I no longer call you servants, but my friends and my brothers; because all things whatsoever I have heard from my Father, I have made known to you." But those who have approached to grace, have known the Holy Spirit, and have known their own intellectual substance; which being known and recognized, they exclaimed, saying: "We have by no means received the spirit of servitude so as to fear, but the spirit of adoption by which we call the Father Abba (Father of us...

Let us therefore recognize the grace which God has bestowed upon us, constituting us sons and consequently heirs and partakers of the inheritance of the saints. Now, most beloved brothers, co-heirs of the ^A saints, all the virtues are not far from you; rather, they are yours and within you. You are not hidden in this momentary world, but are manifest to God. The Spirit of God, however, does not dwell in a soul and body polluted by sin, for He is holy and alien to all deceit. But I write to you, most beloved, as rational men capable of knowing themselves; for he who knows himself already knows God. For this reason, it is fitting for us to worship Him as is due. Now, most beloved, recognize yourselves; for those who recognize themselves also recognize the times; and those who recognize the times possess the power of rising again without any disturbance of the innovation of idioms. For Arius has arisen in Alexandria and has brought forth external ^B opinions concerning the Only-Begotten, establishing a beginning for Him who has no beginning, and perturbation for Him who is imperturbable. But we know that if one man sins against another, God can be entreated for him; but if he sins against God, who shall entreat for him? That man, Arius, has undertaken a great work and has been struck by an incurable wound; he who, if he had truly known himself, his tongue would not have uttered what was hidden from it. Wherefore it is clear that he did not know himself, and therefore he rashly dared to intrude into the mystery of the only-begotten Son, to whom, with His Father and His Holy Spirit, be glory, majesty, honor, and adoration, ^C from now and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

EPISOTLE V

Anthony, writing to his most beloved sons in the Lord, bids them greeting. My little children, holy Israelites in your intellectual substance, there is no need for me to name your carnal names, which pass away with the body, but I name you true Israelite sons. Be it known to you that my love for you is not carnal; therefore I do not cease to pray to God for you, that you may recognize the grace that has been granted to you: for God rouses everyone to the effects of His grace. Wherefore, my little children, do not grow weary or disheartened in crying out to God day and night, so as to constrain the goodness of God the Father, that He may bestow upon you help from above, so that you may know what is fitting. Seeing that, my little children, we truly inhabit the house of thieves, and we are all ^D bound by the chains of death that constrains us. Now, therefore, do not be deceived, nor give sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids, that you may offer yourselves to the Lord as victims in all purity, and look upon Him; for without purity no one can see God, as the Apostle says. Therefore, my beloved, know that if you have done well, you will cause all the saints to rest in their state of immaculate purity, though they have not yet attained true rest; for that will come when we are perfected. Moreover, you will bring great joy to the ministry of the angels and to the advent of the Lord Christ, to whom be glory; but to me, wretched as I am, inhabiting this house of clay, you will give joy, and to my spirit. Indeed, I know that all the holy and immaculate ones are saddened when they see us sluggish and slothful, and offer tears and groanings to the Creator. But the Lord is angry at the evil spirits because of the groaning of the saints, restraining their evil operations against us. But when they see that we have been made righteous and have grown, they rejoice exceedingly, and continually with joy and gladness pour forth manifold prayers for us to the Creator. Wherefore may our Lord rejoice in our good works, and also in the testimonies and prayers of His saints; and therefore He will bestow more gifts upon us. For our Lord is perpetually present with His creatures who fulfill His precepts, as I have predicted to you in our Epistles. Therefore, my little children, let us grieve before His goodness, and let us say as the Psalm says: "What shall we render for the good things which He has done for us?" Let us also say the saying of David in the Psalm: "What profit is there in my blood, if I go down to destruction?"

I desire also that you perceive what I am about to say and testify to you. Truly, my little children, whoever has not hated the things that are proper to material and earthly nature, and has not removed all its operations from his heart, and raised his intellect up to the Father of all, will by no means be able to attain salvation. But he who acts thus, our Lord will have pity on his labors, bestowing upon him an invisible and immaterial fire to burn up all the passions that are in him, and to purify his intellect; then indeed the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ will dwell in him, and he will be with Him to worship the Father as is fitting. For so long as we are in concord with this material nature, we are enemies to God and to His angels and to all the saints. But I ask you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, do not neglect your life and salvation, nor allow this brief, momentary time to steal from you the eternal time, which has no end; nor let this carnal body cast you down from the kingdom of lights, which is immense and ineffable; nor let this decaying throne cast you down from the throne which is the dwelling of the angels. Truly, my little children, my soul is confounded and my spirit stupefied, because the liberty of choosing has been given to us all, to work the works of the saints; but we have become already drunk with passions, like those who are inebriated with the delight of wine; we refuse to raise up our intellects and seek the heavenly glory, nor to imitate the deeds of all the saints or to follow in their footsteps, to inherit their works, so that with them we might inherit the eternal.

Know then, beloved, that the holy, heavenly, intellectual, and splendid virtues, and the illustrious natures, were established from their beginning for one purpose, which is the praise of God; and they are angels and archangels, thrones and dominions, prophets and apostles; and [there are also] Satan and the devils, the evil spirits, and the princes of the air. These all indeed are the work of the most holy Trinity, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Of these, some God named according to their works because of their excellent movements; but those who grew more, were more glorified by God, to whom be majesty and honor for ever and ever. Amen.

LETTER VI

^B To his monk disciples, making known to them the struggles of the demons and the help of the holy virtues: he encourages them furthermore to patience, and to the resolution of that for which they have departed [from the world]. In the peace of the Lord. He said:

Anthony, to his disciples most beloved in the Lord, and to all who approach God with their whole heart, greetings to you all, great and small, who are truly Israelites. For you have obtained happy blessedness through the grace working within you. Nevertheless, it behooves you to strive diligently for Him who visited you, the Day-spring from on high, so that we may be made a holy, immaculate host to Him. For we know how this substantive nature fell from its height into the depth of ignominy and misery, and how the merciful God visited it by His laws through the hands of Moses and the remaining prophets. Finally, this was done through His only-begotten Son, who is the greatest Prince of our priests, and our true Physician, who has the power to heal our pains; who took up our body, and delivered Himself up for us and for our sins, taking upon Himself for our foolishness the figure of foolishness, and for our infirmity the semblance of infirmity, and for our poverty the figure of poverty, and for our mortality He tasted death. All of which He suffered for us, and through His death we have been delivered. Wherefore it behooves us to struggle with all our strength and vigor, that all the saints may rejoice for us, who intercede for us in the time of our sloth, and he who sows and reaps at the same time will rejoice. ^C It behooves you moreover to know, my little children, in what very heavy passions I am involved for your sake. For I behold the labors of the saints for you, and their groans and prayers which they pour forth before God for you at all times. Wherefore strive to imitate them; since they have perceived the dispensations of their Creator in His wonderful Incarnation, and His labors for our salvation, and the deceits of the enemy who is always seeking our perdition in hell (which is the portion of him and his fellow combatants); for he is always intending to destroy us with this great perdition. ^D I ask you therefore, my most beloved little children, that you perceive this, and ponder the dispensations of our Creator, and His visitations of our external and internal man, for the reason that although we are rational, we have become irrational through our inclination with the will of the enemy who works evil, the father of lies. But I desire you to know how many and how great are the myriads of the arts of the demons, and how numberless their species are: who, when they had seen that we had now recognized our own passions and ignominy, and furthermore that we had endeavored to flee their evil operations which they suggest to us; and not only this, but also that we do not give ear to their evil counsels which they inject into us: they set about their work with mockery. For they know that the gift of their Creator has been made to them here unto death, and that it is now all over with them and they are prepared, and are heirs of hell because of their aversion and excessive malice. Wherefore, my most beloved little children, I never cease night and day to pray for you, that the Lord may open the eyes of your hearts, that you may be able to see the magnitude of the multitude of the deceits of the demons and their malice which they press upon us daily, and that He may grant you a vigilant heart and a spirit of discernment, that you may be able to offer yourselves to God as a living, immaculate host, and to beware of the envy of the demons at all times and their evil counsels, and their hidden machinations and veiled malice, and their spirits subduing us, and the blasphemous thoughts which they constantly suggest, and the stupidity of the heart, and their subtle perturbations which they daily bring [upon us] with sadness of heart, and their anger and whispering which they inject into us, so that we whisper against one another, justifying only ourselves, judging others, cursing one another, speaking with a sweet tongue, while in our hearts we have bitterness stored up; judging the neighbor outwardly, [while] holding a thief within us; fighting and opposing one another, to establish our own words and that we may seem more honorable. Furthermore, they incite us to other works which we are not able to perform, turning upside down those things which are of utility to us. Wherefore they incite us to laughter in the time of mourning, and they cause us to mourn in the time of joy, perpetually intending our declination from the straight way so that they may subject us to themselves by their frauds. It is not for me to explain in detail at the present moment each of their evils, except that if our hearts are filled with such things, they will become as food; then truly evil will be multiplied in us, putting forth roots, and it will be a horrible punishment for us. Wherefore it behooves us to pour forth assiduous prayers to the goodness of the Father, that His help may come, and in all our actions may assist us. Since this apparatus is for our perdition, and is a house full of confusion. I say to you, my little children, that every man who delights in his own thoughts falls of his own accord, when he rejoices in those things which are brought upon him, and deems them to be very great mysteries, and justifies himself only in those things which he does; when

his mind clings to these things, his body will be filled with its abominable and hidden mysteries. For whoever is of this kind, the passions of the demons seize him, since he has not driven them away from himself. We must needs know the snares of the devil and his cunning, and decline and flee from them; inasmuch as the sins and iniquities which are from demons are by no means apparent or corporeal. For they are not visible bodies; rather, we are bodies to them, and our souls receive from them the thoughts of darkness: which being received, we make them manifest in the body. Strive, therefore, my little children, not to yield them any place within you, lest the wrath of the Lord come upon us, while they rejoice and mock, finding us destitute. Do not neglect my words; for they know well that our life is shared among ourselves. For who has ever seen God and apprehended Him so that He would not be far from him, and so that he might rejoice in Him, and be saved from the heavy struggles of this body? Or who has seen the devil standing before him in a bodily form, so as to flee from him? Except that, since the devils are in hiding, we manifest them by our deeds; for all are of the same intellectual substance; but receding from God, they have obtained these various names, many of which are demonstrated by their many iniquities. And they are Satan, devils, genii, evil spirits, base, treacherous, princes of this dark world, and many more of this kind. But the names of the heavenly virtues are archangels, thrones, dominions, powers, cherubim, seraphim; and these names are confirmed regarding them, because they have kept the will of their Creator. But those who have hated the burden of this body with which we are clothed, and have cast it away from themselves; some have been called ^B patriarchs, some prophets and kings, and priests, and judges, and apostles. Which names indeed they have obtained, whether they be men or women, because of their various deeds and their leaning toward the good, and more of the same kind; although all are from one and the same principle and from the same substance. Therefore, he who sins against his brother, or against his neighbor, sins against himself; and whoever devises evil against his neighbor, or against one equal to him in kind, truly devises it against his own soul. For who has ever been able to bring labor or rest to God, or to serve Him as is fitting, or to praise Him as much as is appropriate, or to honor Him as much as He deserves, or to exalt Him as much as He is worthy? This, indeed, happens on account of the heaviness of this body by which we are oppressed. Wherefore it is fitting for us, these things being understood, to excite God dwelling in us, by our works, and with joy and mercy toward one another; and that we not be lovers of ourselves, ^C lest we become a portion of the evil one. But let us know ourselves: for he who knows himself, knows also all creatures ^A which the Creator has brought into being from non-existence; he will also recognize this intellectual, immortal nature, hidden in this dissoluble body for its operations to be spread forth in it and through it. He who knows this will be able to love God alone; for whoever loves the Lord, loves all. Therefore, my most beloved little children, eagerly and unceasingly love one another, constituting this body with which you are clothed as a censer, in which you shall offer all your thoughts and your evil counsels, setting them before the Lord, lifting up your hearts and your intellectual power to Him, asking from Him that He may lavish upon you from above His immaterial fire to burn up whatever is in that censer, purifying it. And the adversaries, the priests of Baal, will fear and flee from your sight, as from the sight of the prophet Elias [* III Reg. xviii, 25 sqq.]. Then you shall see the man emerging from the waters of the divine font, who will shower upon you the spiritual rain, which is the Spirit Paraclete. But when you have obtained, my little children, these excellent gifts, do not think them to be from your own works, since holy virtues are present with you, participating in all your actions. I beseech you, however, to insist and persevere in your good works, that all the saints and the spirit of my wretched self may rejoice in you, since we have all been created from one principle and from one and the same invisible intellectual substance. He therefore who knows himself, knows that he is an immortal substance; and that our Lord Jesus Christ is the true intellect of the Father, from whom is the true reason of the whole rational nature, which was created in the likeness of His image. But since He is the head of the body, the head of the Church, as the apostle Paul asserts [* Coloss. 1, 18.]; and for this reason we are all members of one another, and one body in Christ. Nor can the head say to the feet: You are not necessary to me; but whereas one member suffers, all members suffer with it, as the same Apostle says [* I Cor. xii, 26.]. Wherefore most especially it behooves us to preserve love toward one another. For he who loves his brother, he loves God; but he who loves God, loves himself, as the apostle John says [* I Joan. iv, 21.]. I ask you furthermore, my most beloved little children, that you may perceive that we were created having power in our will, and therefore the evil spirits fight against us, besetting us. Nevertheless, perceive what is written in the Psalm: The Angel of the Lord shall encamp round about them that fear him, and shall deliver them from all their sorrows [* Psal. xxxiii, 8.]. I desire also that you know that for all who have strayed from virtue, the delusion of the demons is already perfected, and the Scripture is fulfilled concerning them, namely that they are children of the devil; for when the devil had fallen from his heavenly order on account of pride, he perpetually intends the fall of all who desire to approach to the Lord with all their strength, by this same art by which he himself

^A fell, namely, through pride and the love of empty glory.

Therefore, the demons oppose us, thinking to separate us from God by these and other means. For they know that whoever loves his brother, loves God. Wherefore they cast into our hearts (on account of their folly and enmity, by which they pursue virtue) hatred toward one another: so much so, that none of us can bear to look upon his brother or to speak a word to him. For this reason, my little children, I make known to you that many have truly expended the utmost labor in virtue; but through their own imprudence they have destroyed themselves. And indeed I know that this is not surprising, since you were wearied by the labor, thinking that you possessed virtues within yourselves: hence you fell into this diabolical disease, which is the privation of prudence, thinking yourselves to be near to God and set in the light, when in truth you are in darkness. My little children, why, I beseech you, did our Lord Jesus Christ compel himself to gird his loins with a towel, and to lay aside his garments, and to pour water into a basin, and to wash the feet of his inferiors, unless to teach us humility? He brought back what he did by this example to us: and indeed all who desire to return to their former estate postliminiously, are least able to attain it, except by humility: for in the beginning, the movement was of pride, which ^B cast them from heaven. Unless, therefore, a great humility exists in a man, from the whole heart and from the whole mind and from the whole spirit and from the whole soul and from the whole body, he shall not inherit the kingdom of God, according to what is written.

Indeed, most beloved children in the Lord, I pray to my Creator, in whose hands is my spirit, night and day, that he may enlighten the eyes of your heart, so that you may first recognize my charity toward you; then that you may look upon and recognize your own confusion; for he who knows his own confusion, seeks the true elect glory: inasmuch as he who knows his own mortality, already knows eternal life. I fear indeed, my little children, lest charity and poverty overtake you in the way leading to the place where you are able to attain riches. But I desire to see you here in the body; however, I await that age in which there is no sorrow, nor grief, nor groaning, but gladness and joy for all who truly deserve it; and that we may meet there as soon as possible and I may see you. Finally, many words still remain for me to say to you; but this is not an opportune time; but it is time to say salvation to you by name, my most beloved little children. And to our Lord Jesus Christ be glory forever and ever. Amen.

EPISTLE VII

*To his sons, monks, in which he demonstrates to them that our salvation was achieved neither through an angel nor through man, but through God the Word incarnate. Furthermore, he incites them to struggle with the highest contest, that they may attain salvation. He said:*

Indeed, I know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who being rich, for our sake became poor, that we might become rich by his poverty; and that we might be fortified by his humility, and be made wise in his foolishness, and rise again by his death, and cry ^C out with the Apostle saying: *And though we have known him in the flesh, yet now we know him so no more.* But in truth, most beloved, I tell you that these words are subtle in their meaning, and I have much to say about them: but this is not the time to explain them; but to begin to tell you salvation in the Lord, my blessed little children, and to make known to you, that it is necessary for us who wish to approach our Creator, that we should struggle for the liberation of our souls from passions according to the intellectual law. For from the fulfillment of deceits and the delight of passions and the multitude of diabolical temptations, our sensible part has been weakened, and the motions of our souls are dead: and therefore we are not able to know the magnitude of our intellectual substance on account of the passions into which we fall; nor is there salvation for us, unless through our Lord Jesus Christ. For it is written in the apostle Paul, that by the first Adam came death, and by Christ came life. The Lord, therefore, our God Christ, is the life of all rational beings created to the likeness of his image; which is the true intellect of the Father, and the image of the Father, inconvertible and immutable. This image, however, appearing and existing in creatures is convertible, and therefore in it our death was made (but on the contrary it is intellectual nature), and in it we were born in the flesh, and we became a house full of struggle.

I, however, testify to you and say, that when we had already lost all virtues, and God the Father had seen our infirmity, and that we are least able to sustain his manifestation in us according to his own form by his true reason, he sent his only-begotten Son, who assumed our flesh, and visited his creature and his ministers and saints with his gifts. Therefore, my most beloved little children, ^D I beseech you by my love for you, that you approach the Lord with all your heart, having explored that all our works which we offer to the Lord, the grace which he has bestowed upon us, by means of his humility for us, are by no means to be compared. For he does not need us, nor does he come to us on account of our humility, but on account of his immense goodness and incomprehensible humility and charity. Nor did he act with us according to our sins, but he enjoined the moon and the stars to serve this house of darkness which is the world, for the subsistence of the body. He established, moreover, many other things, hidden from us, serving us, which we do not see with our bodily eyes. But we, on account of the multitude of our sins, have made their service toward us vain. But what, I pray, shall we say to our Lord on the day of judgment? For what good things does he himself have with us—

has he not performed? For neither have the patriarchs labored for our sake, nor have the priests instructed us, nor have judges and kings fought for our sake, nor have the apostles suffered persecution for our sake; but the beloved Son, the Word, died for us all. Wherefore it behooves us to be prepared with all purity, ordering our intentions and our sensations ^A which are variable between good and evil; since it is also necessary that we be transformed and meet our Lord Jesus Christ, who, coming to us in all his dispensations, delivered us, and was made like unto us in all things, sin excepted. Which, indeed, has been a scandal to some, but to others a benefit, to others for wisdom and fortitude, to others for resurrection and life. Therefore, my little children, let this be known to you: that indeed the coming of our Lord has become a judgment to those, but to these, life. But concerning these the prophet Jeremiah says: Behold the days come, saith the Lord, and I will make a new covenant with their breasts, and I will write it in their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people; and then no man shall teach his neighbor, nor his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for all shall know me from the least to the greatest, and I will deliver them from their sins, and I will no more remember their iniquities. But of them the Apostle says: That every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may be made subject to God. For since they have known God, they have not glorified him as God, on account of their foolishness which cannot receive the wisdom of God, and wrath shall descend upon them. Now, my little children, I see that each one of us has voluntarily surrendered himself to evils: which have indeed been fully realized in us; through our foolishness they have gained dominion over us.

Wherefore our Lord assumed the form of a servant, that by it he might save us, fulfilling all his dispensations even to the death of the cross, so that by his death and resurrection there might be for us a most excellent resurrection, and that the power of death, which is the power of the devil, might cease in us, that withdrawing ourselves, and imitating his humility, we may truly be his disciples. My most beloved little children in the Lord, I tell you that I am greatly troubled in body and spirit, because we have been named with the names of the saints, and have put on their habit by which we glory before the infidels, but we have in the least ^B any virtue to act. I fear, indeed, lest the saying of the Apostle may be fulfilled in us: Having an appearance of godliness, but denying the power thereof. But I, because of my love for you, never cease to pray to God for you, that you may perceive the life hidden in you, and through it may work to that end by which you may be made worthy to attain the invisible inheritance. And know, most beloved, that to perform our works to the best of our strength according to his will, this is what we ought to do, since this is natural to our substance; and furthermore, what is of your virtue is not to be attributed to overabundance. For whoever shall look to God, and seek Him with his whole heart, that truly he does by his natural substance. But if he shall have committed any sin, he will be worthy of blame and punishment, since it is alien to his natural substance. Therefore know this, and realize that I conceal nothing from you, nor hide from you anything which pertains to your salvation. Furthermore, I make it known to you that the body is perpetually resisting the spirit, as the apostle Paul says. Wherefore you who desire to follow the life of godliness in Jesus Christ, it behooves you to expel far from you the carnal concupiscences by prayers poured forth to our Lord Jesus Christ, who by his mercy and kindness will remove from you all the troubles and temptations which emerge from the body; such as our fathers the apostles suffered, who through their patience vanquished the power of the enemy, namely, idolatry: wherefore the Lord granted them consolation and strength, saying to them: In the world you shall have distress; but have confidence: I have overcome the world. He also said to them: If the prophets have been persecuted, and me they have persecuted, you also they will persecute: and if they have hated me, you also they will hate; but take courage, and know that by your patience you shall overcome the power of the enemy. I also, my blessed little children, desire that you should know this discourse, as also what the apostle Paul said, that in truth the sufferings of this time are not to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us. And let it be ^C known to you, that on account of my love for you, I have addressed these few spiritual words to you, that you may be of even heart. For it is clear to me indeed that an awakened intellect has no need of a multiplicity of words. For indeed I rejoice in the Lord on your account, little children most beloved, you who are holy in your intellectual substance; and I desire that you should know the measure of the gifts that are granted to us from the Lord for our preservation and increase, and that you may embrace the natural substantial works, but not those which are not substantial.

Neither do I, miserable as I am, fail to make it clear to you, how my Lord by his grace has awakened my intellect from the sleep of death, and a huge weeping and groaning has come upon me during the whole interval of this short time which remains for me upon earth. For I think with myself: what shall we give to our Lord for those things he has done for us? When he made his angels serve us, and his prophets to prophesy to us, and his apostles to evangelize to us: but what is greater than all these, he sent his only-begotten Son for our salvation. Wherefore I beseech you, that you excite your hearts in the fear of the Lord, and know that John the precursor baptized with water unto repentance in preparation for the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ, who baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire, which is the fire of good works. Let us therefore be prepared to cleanse ourselves in body and spirit to receive the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ. ^D

^A to carry out, and to offer ourselves to Him as an acceptable sacrifice. For the Comforter Spirit, who is received in baptism, grants us to work in repentance, that He may lead us back again to our former principality and to obtain our permanent inheritance. Know, therefore, that all who are baptized in Christ put on Christ, as the apostle Paul says, gaining the grace of the Holy Spirit. Forasmuch as both slave and free, both male and female, immediately attain this grace, these bodily distinctions cease for them; and the Holy Spirit receives the doctrine at that time when they attain the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven, worshipping the Father, as is fitting, in spirit and in truth. Let none of you say, my little children, that there will be no judgment for us on the day of the coming of the Lord; rather let us know that the first coming of our Lord Christ has already threatened judgment for us on that day, if we have not fulfilled His precepts. And know that all who are clothed in the Spirit pray fervently for us, that we may be united to our Lord, and inherit what was ordained for us from the beginning, again putting on our original substantial form, which we cast off through disobedience. For the voice of the Father toward those clothed in this Spirit always makes His goodness plain, bringing back to their memory the Scripture that says: "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, O priests, and speak to the heart of Jerusalem: I will send her peace in His mercy," at all times. May He who visits His creatures, manifesting His goodness in them, grant you wisdom and knowledge and grace and the spirit of discernment to understand what I have written to you from the precepts of the Lord, and may you teach them, so that they may keep you pure until the final spirit. And may He Himself receive these my prayers, which are for the salvation of you all, my most beloved little children in the Lord. To whom be glory and majesty forever. Amen.

EPISTLE VIII.

Most beloved in the Lord, I write to you as children to their most dear parents. For if carnal children are imitators of their parents and show themselves obedient, their parents love them with all their heart and pursue them with the highest honor, more than children who are disobedient to them. And if they have attained anything beautiful or good, they reserve it for their obedient children and imitators. If, therefore, carnal parents perform this, how much more do our spiritual fathers desire to show honors to their children who are obedient to them and their imitators. Therefore, most beloved in the Lord, I long ^B to be with you at all times, and to see and bless you. For your covenant made to me, and your imitation of me, and your return to God, I see to be upright indeed; you even inhabit my heart in every way. Hence, I ask my God night and day on your account, that He may grant you His gifts, which He bestowed upon me solely by His grace, and not by my merits. For these are those great riches which our Lord has granted me, whom I beseech to grant them to you also; and this is the sum of my desires and my prayer night and day, that you may be with me in the place where I shall be, when I have departed from this body. Our Lord has indeed always heard me from my childhood to this present day, and I know also that in His mercy He will grant me this other thing as well. I have indeed written these things to you, my dear children, because of the excess of my heart's love for you; since you have shown yourselves imitators of me in all things in your struggles for the Lord. Know, therefore, that our Lord Christ (whose memory is to be adored) because of His exceeding love similarly acted toward His disciples, when He said to them: "I do not call you servants, but brothers, and friends, and children." And when they had become children to Him, He prayed for them to the Father, saying: "Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, may be where ^C I am; for I am in thee, and they are in me, that we may all be perfect in unity." Consider, therefore, and understand by what reasoning our Lord Jesus Christ prayed to His Father for His disciples, because they had become children to Him, that they might indeed be with Him wherever He shall be. In a similar manner is this my prayer, most beloved to me, that we may all be together in that place, in which there is no sorrow, nor infirmity, nor darkness, nor evil spirits; but it is filled with all joy, and light, and eternal life, and incorruptible crowns, and other things which exist therein, which the human tongue cannot recount; for they shall endure for ages of ages. Wherefore pray, my little children, to the Lord, that He may easily return my journey to you, that I may remain with you for some time. For it does not escape me that this will be for your edification and joy in the faith. I also will rejoice when I come to you, that you may rejoice and you may grow more abundantly in faith: nor can I ^D reveal more to you, which I am unable to write in an epistle. Your mother Sarah will also rejoice in you, who is my soul; she who is perfect in her love, and has brought forth in you the divine Spirit, and desires to perfect you, just as I have prayed for you, that you may receive that great fiery Spirit which I have received; which if you wish to receive, so that it may remain in you, first offer the works of the body, and the humility of the heart, and lift your thoughts to heaven night and day, and seek this fiery Spirit with rectitude of heart, and then it shall be given to you. For by this reason he who attained it...

^A is not Elias the Tishbite, nor Elisha, nor the other prophets. Do not think in your hearts, or hesitate, saying: Who is able to receive this? Not at all, my dear children, do not at all allow these thoughts to enter your hearts, but seek with rectitude of heart, and you shall surely receive it. I, your Father, also strive with you, praying for you that you may receive it; for I know that you are perfect and have the capacity to receive it. For whoever cultivates himself with this culture, that Spirit shall be given to him always and forever. I know, however, that there are some who, when they had received it and had not perfected this culture, it did not remain in them at all. But you, most dear to me, whom I desire to see because of the rectitude of your understanding, persist in prayers with care from your whole hearts, and it shall be given to you. For that Spirit dwells in upright hearts. For when received, it will reveal to you high mysteries, and many other things which I cannot record with paper, pen, and ink; and it will remove from you the fear of men, and beasts, and charities, and other things of this kind; and it will be for you a heavenly joy night and day, and you shall be in this body as those who are already in the kingdom. Nor shall you ask only for your own souls, but also for others, since whoever has received this Spirit has no further need to pray for himself, but for others. Just as Moses did; who, when he received ^B this Spirit, prayed for the people, saying to God: If you will destroy them, delete my name from the book of life. Of this kind also is the supplication of all the saints, and of others who have arrived at this end, whom I cannot recount by name; but you, since you are wise, know them. My own supplication night and day is that the magnitude of this Spirit, which all the saints have received, may be in you. Indeed, my most dear children, after I had written this letter, I was moved by the Spirit of God to write to you at the end of this regarding this fiery Spirit and divine charity. But when I come to you with the help of the Lord, I will make known to you many other things about this Spirit, so that you may obtain them all. Just as I granted you salvation at the beginning of this letter, likewise I say to you salvation in the charity of the Lord at the end of it through this fiery Spirit, which I and you have received by the grace of the Lord. Finally, I ask you to abandon your sensual will, and to apply yourselves in all ways to quietude, so that the high virtues of this Holy Spirit may dwell with you by His breathing, bringing you help to work according to the will of the Holy Trinity, Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit: to whom be praise forever.

EPISTLE IX.

praise and honor befit from all rational beings, along with His Father and the Holy Spirit, for eternity. Amen.

EPISTLE X.

EPISTLE XI.

^A For it is written in the Apostle Paul that solid food is for the perfect. These are they who have lifted up their senses and their intentions through excessive inquiry concerning good and evil; and for this reason they have been made children of the kingdom and inscribed in the divine sonship. For this cause He grants them prudence and discernment in all their works, so that neither man nor the devil may seduce them. Know, therefore, that the enemy opposes the faithful with the appearance of good, and deceives many because prudence and discernment have not been granted them in the slightest. Hence, when the blessed Paul had known the riches that shall be for the faithful, the greatness of which has no end, he wrote to the Ephesians (who had become free for him, and children of the kingdom) on account of his excessive charity toward them, saying: "To the holy faithful who are at Ephesus. From the time I heard of your faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and your love toward all the saints, I cease not to give thanks for you, and to make mention of you in my prayers, that the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, that the eyes of your hearts may be enlightened, and that you may know the quiddity of your hope of the vocation, and the quiddity of the glory of the riches of his inheritance in the saints." ^B And he says also: "For this cause I bow my knees, adoring the Father, from whom all paternity in heaven and on earth is named, that He may grant you according to the riches of his glory, that your faith may be confirmed, and that He may strengthen the assistance of His Spirit in you, that Christ may dwell in your inner man by faith, and in your hearts by charity, having your root and foundation firm, that you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, and length, and altitude, and depth."

Behold, therefore, my little children, this great Apostle, who, when he had known the greatness of these riches, which those who had numbered themselves as his children through the approach to faith were ignorant of, prayed for them, that they might attain the knowledge of the greatness of these riches which he himself had known, which is true providence, which is discernment, than which there is nothing greater in the Christian faith. This, however, he did on account of his immense charity toward them; for he knew that if they had attained it, there would be no labor for them in anything, nor would they be terrified by any fear, and the joy of the Lord would console them by night and by day, and works would always be sweet to them at all times. And therefore God imparts to them revelations of the great mysteries of the world to come, which a fleshy tongue we are unable to explain. Therefore, my most beloved in the Lord, you who have been made children, pray by night and by day with an abundance of tears for this providence and discernment, that it may be good for you ^A eternally from our God, and your glory may be increased in all things, and He may give you many other things which you have never known. But I, your Father, also pray for you, that you may arrive at this measure which is for us. For many of the monks and virgins who are in the congregations have not attained this measure. If, however, you desire to attain this measure, which is perfection, withdraw from all those who have such a name, namely of monasticism and virginity, yet in whom this providence and discernment is not found; for if you have communication with them, they will not permit you to progress; nay, they will extinguish the warmth within you, since in them there exists no warmth, but cold, as they walk according to their own wills. If, therefore, they come to you and have spoken with you of the words of this world and those things which agree with their own wills, do not assent to them. For it is written in the Apostle Paul: "Do not extinguish the Spirit, and do not despise prophecies." Know, however, my little children, that the Spirit is not extinguished from us except by empty words and other such works in great number, which I cannot write out one by one. When, however, you have fled from them, do not despise them; rather, do good to them, yet without communicating with them, lest they cause you to retreat. And may the peace of our Lord be with your gentle spirits, my most beloved little children. To whom be praise and honor from all creatures forever. Amen.

EPISTOLA XII. Of Charity. He desires furthermore to see them, that they may all at once participate in consolation. He said:

^C Know, my most beloved in the Lord, that the charity of the Lord perpetually visits our minds, and assists all those who have prepared the cogitations of their heart for the remembrance of the Church of the firstborn by night and by day, nor do they move them toward other things. But just as the remembrance of these is always the Spirit of God, He Himself prays most especially for them, inasmuch as they have been made His children, and He has begotten them in God. In like manner, indeed, I cease not to remember you by night and by day in my prayers, that your faith may be firm, and that you may be increased in the works of virtues, and that our Lord may stabilize your providence and discernment, and grant you great fortitude more than you are endowed with. This, indeed, is my assiduous prayer for you, since I have begotten you in Christ, and you have been made children to me. Thus, when the Apostle Paul had begotten Timothy in God, and he had been made a son to him, he wrote, saying thus: "I am mindful of you in my prayers by night and by day, and I desire to see you; and I am mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy, calling to mind the true faith that is in you." Consider, therefore, my little children, this Apostle, and how, for Timothy who was made a son to him and whom he begotten in God, he did these three things: namely, he remembered him by night and by day, he prayed for him, ^D and he desired to see him.

In the same way, my most beloved, whose uprightness of heart my own heart loves, I too do these same three things, just as Paul did for Timothy: namely, I remember you, I pray for you, and I desire to see you. I do this, mindful of your labors, your sighs, your heart’s sorrow, and your great patience and gentleness, since you perform these things with a strong heart and in wisdom. For whoever performs the works of God performs them in the spirit of wisdom. Hence the apostle Paul says: “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of wisdom and the virtue of charity.” Our Lord will demand an account from each of us, whether our works are according to this wisdom.

I also pray, my little children, that the Lord may make my paths to you easy, so that I may come to see you again. Indeed, it does not escape me that you burn with a desire to see me, just as I desire to see you more and more. But understand this: there is nothing on earth that can be compared to the love of parents toward children and children toward parents, for they desire to see each other at all times. If, therefore, carnal parents and children are endowed with this charity, how much more so spiritual parents and their children in God? Wherefore they desire to see one another with the fear of God and His charity, since parents in God are greater than parents in the flesh. Likewise, the love of parents toward children is greater than the love of children toward parents. Hence the divine apostle Paul says: “If your affection toward me is small, my affection toward you is all the greater.” By the same reasoning, the love of your father toward you, my little children, is greater than your love toward me, for you have become my children. Let us therefore all pray together that our Lord may grant us to see one another again. I truly know that my coming to you would bring you great joy and gladness, as the Apostle says: “I desire exceedingly to see you, to confer on you some spiritual benefit, that your faith may be confirmed, and we may be comforted together by my faith and yours.” For being gathered together, I will make known to you many other things which I cannot entrust to letters, so that this may be for your salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. To whom be glory, and honor, and veneration, and praise forever. Amen.

LETTER XIII.

Now you know, my most beloved in the Lord, that in every rational creature, whether male or female, there is an organ of love for both, namely, for embracing divine and human things; for those who are divine love divine things, while the carnal love carnal things. But since divine things are in you, I love you with my whole spirit, because you have God within you, and you are already held by me in high regard; and I always pray to my God for you, that you may increase in your hearts with divine things in the charity of God, ^A and that the magnitude of the arcana of God may be opened to you, which I cannot explain with my tongue; for they are placed in the highest altitude. Not indeed as things are of this world; nor are they revealed to impure souls, but to those who have purified their hearts from all the filth and works of this transitory world: those, namely, who have hated the world even unto their own souls, and carrying the cross have followed the Lord, in all things working according to His will. Wherefore the divinity has dwelt in them, and has bestowed upon them sweetness and joy in God, which joy truly nourishes souls and satisfies them with increase. And as trees, unless they have drunk of the nature of water, cannot grow: so the soul, unless it has received heavenly joy, is neither able to grow nor be lifted on high. But souls which have received the spirit and are imbued with heavenly joy; which are able to grow upward when they have guarded what we said before: and so the arcana of the kingdom of heaven are open to them while they still exist in this flesh, and they have thus obtained such confidence before God in all things, that He has fulfilled all their petitions.

Now therefore, my most beloved and honorable ones, this is my perpetual prayer, that you may come to this goal, that you may know and recognize the riches of the kingdom of God, of which there is no measure nor end. I know indeed that I do not merit this, unless some of the monks and virgins who are in the congregations, because they have reached the term of perfection, are prepared for seats, that they may sit upon them on the day of judgment to judge. Certainly, I know some in this our age who have reached this term of the filiation of God. Nor was any age of the ages devoid of those who reached this term; nor will future ages be devoid of them, not only of men, but also of women. Who, when they have sat upon the seats, as the discourse preceded, each of them will judge the men of his own age, because they struggled until they were perfect; for those who are perfect shall judge the world. And this is that for which I pray night and day for you, that you may reach this measure of judging the men of your own age. Which truly is because of my excessive charity toward you, which I cannot explain in words, nor can you. For as the apostle Paul says to those who had been enrolled as children to him: “I do not want to show you only the gospel, but myself also, because you have become most dear to me in the Lord.” And I have already sent you in my place my beloved Son, until God makes my presence with you in the body easy, and I bring you joy beyond your own joy; for seeing that the children are loved by the parent, the Lord Himself becomes a joy to them all, bestowing upon them great virtue and peace in the place of solitude; which is the eternal kingdom, which you are about to attain by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. To whom be praise, and glory, and majesty forever. Amen.

EPISTLE XIV. On fulfilling obedience, that the blessing of their fathers may dwell in them. He said:

^A You are indeed most beloved to me in the Lord, because you have prepared yourselves for the kingdom of heaven, and have asked of God that it might be for you as it is for your Father, that you might go to the place to which your Father is about to go, and that the blessing which dwelt in him may dwell in you, and that you may attain the glory which he is about to attain, for you have been made his sons according to the sonship of truth and of blessing and of obedience. For obedient sons, as heirs, obtain the wealth, justice, and blessing of their fathers by right of inheritance. Indeed, the prayers which sons pour out before God are similar to the prayers of their fathers; and through them, by right of inheritance, they obtain paternal virtues. And surely the prayers of Jacob were similar in all things to the prayers of his fathers: therefore all the blessings of his fathers descended upon him, and he merited the vision of the spiritual ladder, with angels ascending and descending upon it. But before he had received the blessing of his parents, he did not see even one angel; but when he had attained the blessing of his fathers, he saw angels, and was blessed by them. Similarly, true sons have known that they could see no virtue unless they had attained the blessing of their parents. Wherefore they have endeavored to show obedience to their parents, beseeching them that they might be blessed by them, so that, through the mediation of their blessings, they might merit to see the hosts of angels, by the sight of which they might be made firm without perturbation for all ages. Similarly, the apostle Paul, when he had seen these things, was strengthened and invigorated, and exclaimed, saying: *Shall harm, or prison, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or adversity, or the sword separate me from the love of Christ?* He also says: *Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor virtues, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.* See, therefore, my beloved, how all who have struggled until they were made imperturbable are anxious for nothing at all. Thus I desire you to be, and thus I long to see you, because of my excessive love for you in God, whom I ask by night and day that the blessings of our fathers may dwell in you, and the blessing of my wretched self also, so that intellectual virtues may reside in you, and you may spend the remainder of your life in all joy. For whoever has not attained this measure shall by no means attain the joys of heaven. ^D Know likewise, my little children, that the commandments are neither heavy nor laborious, but true light and eternal joy to those who fulfill obedience. I say to you, therefore, what I never cease to pray for you, that you may be with me where I shall be; for you have indeed been made children to me, and you have rendered obedience to me in all things. For when our Lord Jesus Christ had seen his disciples obedient to him, he asked his Father, saying: *Father, in the place where I shall be, I will that these also may be with me; because they have heard my words, and I deliver myself up for them. Father, you are in me, and I in you; that they also may be one in us, just as we are.* Consider, therefore, my little children, the prayer of our Lord for his disciples, that they might be where he was; and also his prayer to the Father, that he might keep them from evil, until they arrive at the places of rest, because they have been made his friends. Know that my prayer to God for you is of this kind, that he may preserve you from evil, until you arrive at the places of rest, and that he may grant you the blessing of our fathers. For if these blessings dwell in you, a great accession of grace will occur for you. Since Jacob, when seeking Mesopotamia, after receiving the blessing, saw angels, and God blessed him because of the obedience rendered to his parents, and their blessings. But when he had seen angels appearing to him face to face, he held one of them until he had received a manifold blessing from him, by which he blessed his sons also. Similarly, even I, the wretched one, pray to my God, whom I have served from my childhood until now, that he may bless you and increase you with blessings, so that you may be filled with blessings like our father Jacob, and be similar to him in your spirits and bodies. Know, therefore, that our father Jacob, while he was in Mesopotamia, remembered his parents, and returned to his own land; and fearing his brother, he offered him four gifts before he met him; and indeed his brother had no need of these, since he was very rich; but he did this to dissolve the enmity which stood between them, and to attain the blessing of his parents; for he knew that the power of the blessing of his parents was the greatest. For it is written: *The blessing of the fathers shall descend upon the children.* From now on, therefore, my most beloved, it will be a joy to me that you be mindful of my wretchedness; and also that you be mindful of your carnal parents, so that their blessings may descend upon you at all times. Let this be known to you. And may the peace of the Lord preserve your hearts, and may his grace assist you. To whom be praise from all reasonable beings forever. Amen.

EPISTLE XV. He said:

Before all else, my blessed little children, I pray to God that he may grant you invisible things: for these visible things are temporal and fleeting; but those invisible things are eternal and permanent. And this is my prayer for you, that I might see you as living, reasonable fruits, and that you might be made...

heirs and participants. Wherefore my heart hath greatly rejoiced: for I know that God rejoiceth in those whose fruits are thus living and rational, and that He makes them His heirs and participants. But all those whose fruits are dead are by no means esteemed as participants of God; rather, He shall find fault with them all the more, as the prophet said, making known to them what God spake to him: Cry with strength, and spare not, and lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show My people their sins, and the house of Jacob their transgressions; for they are not far off, and they shall seek Me in the last days. Yet they, in their irascible concupiscence, have said: Wherefore have we fasted, and Thou hast not regarded? And we have humiliated our souls, and Thou hast not seen? And He answered those who say this: Because in the days of your fasting you are found doing your own will, and you are cruel toward those who are in your power, shearing their heads; and your fasting is unto judgment and strife. But when you are of such a kind, I will not hear your fasting: for this is not the fast that I chose, saith the Lord. Furthermore He saith: Even though thou shouldst bend thy neck like a circle, and shouldst put on sackcloth, and spread ashes; this fast is not at all acceptable.

Know therefore, my little children, that these are the dead fruits; hence God doth not hear all those who perform these things when they pray to Him, but rather He reproves them. The holy Gospel also showeth this to us, saying: If therefore the light that is in you be darkness, how great will that very darkness be? The prophet also in another place saith: All your righteousness is before Me as a menstrual cloth. Since, therefore, you have known, my most beloved little children, these dead fruits; be not ye anxious for any one of them, lest they corrupt your living and rational fruits. But I, a suppliant, pray to God for you, that He may preserve your fruits from corruption, and may multiply and increase them unto your grace and your joy and your love for the brethren and the poor; and may He perfect your best virtues and your true fruits, until you depart from this dwelling-place and assemble together in that place wherein there is no disease nor anguish nor evil, but joy, and gladness, and glory, and crowns, and diadems, and pure fruits, and the Church of the saints, and an everlasting inheritance, and the remaining good things which the eye hath not seen, and the ear hath not heard, neither have they entered into the heart of man. I desire, however, my blessed little children, that you assist this my petition and the greatness of my love towards you, by persisting in the works of the Lord with firm hearts. Furthermore, I ask Him that He may keep you in this evil time, and that you may be unscathed in body and soul and spirit, and that He may grant you knowledge in all things, that you may be rescued from the frauds of this world and that there may be peace and joy and salvation for you in the Lord from these evil dead fruits, the root of all of which is vainglory and bodily rest. And the peace of our Lord Jesus ^A Christ abide in you all. To whom be praise always and forever.

LETTER XVI.

For indeed Abraham could have built for himself palaces everywhere on account of his many riches, which were made for him in gold and silver and servants and handmaids and beasts of burden; but knowing that if he should always be mindful of poverty in his heart, he would never forget the multitude of good things which God did for him, for that reason he by no means did this, but dwelt in tents. For which cause God appeared to him having two angels with Him, as he sat by the tree of Mamre. And when he was solicitous for our Lord and His angels, he did not command any of his servants to do that which he had determined to perform, lest he should forget the grace which He had granted him after his humiliation and poverty: but he himself in his venerable old age, which exceeded the hundredth year, went to his herds, and brought an optimal calf, and slaughtered it. And he commanded even Sarah his wife herself that she should mix three measures of fine flour, with all their servants and all their handmaids standing by: but Abraham, when he had offered with them to eat, stood before them as a pauper who had no servants. On account of which poverty which he openly had before the Lord, He revealed Himself to him, and fulfilled for him all his will, and said to him in that day: At this same time of the turning year there shall be a son to Sarah. And so it was, and they had Isaac. Now this Isaac was very rich, and he was made a pauper in his heart, so that the Philistines oppressed him as a pauper, ^D nor did he on that account contend with them: hence his riches were multiplied beyond those others. Similarly also Jacob, when he had determined to depart into Mesopotamia before the death of Isaac his father, having received blessings from him, he sent away from himself the multitude of those riches, walking in poverty, having nothing besides his staff and viaticum sufficient for the journey; but lying down, he put a stone under his head.

Wherefore he was more and more enriched in the house of his uncle Laban. Wishing, however, to return to the house of his father, he did not forget poverty on account of the manifold riches which had been made for him: for indeed he who

^A had performed such great miracles, utilized them for the sake of the memory of his own poverty, so that he might not boast in his heart, but might say: "This power is not mine, but the Lord’s."

It is also said that the heart of Deborah was not exalted when she had obtained from God that great exaltation which is to rule over the entire people; rather, she was mindful of the order of womanhood, and confessed that a man was her head. Therefore, when she decided to do battle with King Sisara, she summoned Barak and gave him the authority to set out and fight against Sisara. But this great honor did not seduce holy Barak either, nor was he forgetful of the dispensations of God, but he answered her: "If you will come with me, I will go." For he knew that God was with her and had handed over to her the governance, in such a way that Deborah quite rightly said to him: "If I go out with you, the honor shall not be yours; but it shall be said that he was delivered into the hands of a woman." Consider, I beseech you, my little children, the mutual reverence of these two. For it would have been fitting for Deborah to say: "The Lord has given this honor to me, which I shall not give to another"; yet in truth, she was mindful of her station as a woman on account of the humility of her heart. It would also have been fitting for Barak, after having received authority from Deborah, to go to the war alone so that he might boast and say, "I have conquered Sisara." But he assumed humility for himself all the more, so that divine assistance might be ready for him.

Likewise also, when the angel of the Lord said to Gideon: "Behold, I am sending you to defeat the king of Midian," his heart was not exalted, but he was mindful of his own humility, and he accused himself of vileness in many ways, that he might be defended from pride. For he first said: "Lord, may your power be with me, that Israel may be delivered; for I and this multitude are oppressed, and I am the least of all who are in my father’s house, which is of the tribe of Manasseh." To whom the angel said: "Go, I will be with you." Yet the humility of his heart did not leave him free from concern: hence he asked the angel for signs, because he did not consider himself in the least degree worthy of so great an honor. Wherefore he prevailed against Midian by the help and power of the Lord, and he was always mindful of his former poverty, fleeing from pride. And when the people asked him to be their prince, he answered with humility of heart: "I will not be prince over you, nor shall my son; but the Lord is prince over you." And he freed himself from the principate, nor could honor in any way seduce him.

Similarly also, Anna, the mother of the prophet Samuel, used to make him a garment every single year according to her own station (for it is known that the temple of the Lord does not stand in need of receiving a garment from the mother of a prophet out of her own means); yet his mother did this because he had entered the temple from an infant age, so that he might not say: "I am an angel or a power, because I have seen revelations in the temple." She performed this every year, so that he might recognize and become more certain whose

son he was, and that he might be mindful of his own humility and origin. Therefore, he grew more and more pleasing to God. Anna, his mother, was also humble and gentle. And in the same way, David was humble and gentle. Let us also, most beloved, embrace gentleness and humility like them. For David says: "Remember, O Lord, David, and all his meekness" (Ps. cxxxi, 1). While he was shepherding his father’s sheep, God chose him to be a king most dear to Himself, above all the house of his father. And when going forth to fight Goliath, he took three stones from the torrent and put them into his pouch; he also took his staff with which he used to shepherd the sheep, and he approached Goliath the giant, and defeated him, and in the power of the Lord he overcame him; and he stood before King Saul, in whose regard he became honorable. Nor did he lay aside, out of reverence for the royal palace, his staff or his pouch; but he kept them with him, so that his heart might always be humble, and might be an example for us to be instructed by. When, however, he was anointed with oil and made king, he said: "I will not forget my poverty and my humility, nor will I be exalted in my heart." And more clearly he says of this same thing: "Lord, my heart is not exalted, nor are my eyes lifted up; neither have I walked in great or wonderful things beyond me. If I were not humbled, but had lifted up my voice, like a child weaned from his mother’s milk, so let there be retribution in my soul" (Ps. cxxx, 1, 2). These psalms indeed David did not say, except when he had obtained the kingdom. Nor did he forget his former poverty, but said: "I was the least among my brothers, and a youth in my father's house; I was feeding the sheep of my father." These words he said so that they might be known to the whole world, that it might learn from him humility and poverty. Similarly, the prophet Elijah, when he had performed manifold miracles, did not lay aside his mantle, not even when ascending into paradise, lest his heart be magnified by the multitude of miracles which he performed; but when he had already ascended, he cast it upon Elisha his disciple. He was also girded with a leather girdle, mindful that he was a poor man, and so that by the memory of that leather girdle, he might not forget his former poverty. Likewise, the holy Apostles, when they began to follow our Lord Jesus Christ, were always mindful of their former poverty, such that our Lord said to the prince of the Apostles, Peter, at Capharnaum, when the tribute was demanded from him: "Go to the sea, and cast your hook; and take the first fish that comes up, and open its mouth, and you will find a stater; take it, and give it for me and you" (Matth. xvii, 26). Therefore, my little children, see how Peter had not at all laid aside his hook, so that he might not forget his humility and poverty. From this, know that the Lord brought forth those whose mention has preceded, so that we might humble ourselves, and so that the devil might be confounded and broken, and his fiery darts quenched (Ephes. vi, 16). Nor were these holy men aforementioned, and those like them, merely mindful of their own poverty; but our Lord Himself even called Himself the son of David, and said of Himself: "The Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve" (Matth. xx, 28). But when it was said to Him: "You are the Son of God," He rebuked the one saying such things. And when He performed miracles and healings, He commanded them, saying: "See that you tell no one" (Mark i, 44). This humiliation of His was for our sake; nor did He perform it out of fear of pride or boasting; for He was able to manifest the power of His divinity, as often as He wished; but He instructed us to preserve our own poverty and weakness, so that by seeing the Lord, we might humble ourselves. For it is certain that no one can humble himself in the truth of his heart unless it be he whose soul has already seen the Lord. Know, however, my little children, that many walk in humility, but not in the truth of their hearts: for they are humble outwardly before men, but do not care at all for the honor of God: a thing which indeed no one attains by way of gold and silver and bronze, nor by approaching an earthly king or his armies and leaders. For it is recorded of the pure and holy fathers that, while they were struggling and seeing the Lord, they humbled themselves more and more. For we have heard it written of Job, that he said to the Lord: "You know, Lord, that I am a sinful man; and who is delivered from your hand? Would that there were a mediator between us to judge!" (Job x, 6, 7) and the rest of the discourse. When Job, moreover, had seen the Lord in a cloud, and had spoken with Him, and with the opened eyes of his heart had gazed upon Him, he reckoned himself as dust and ashes, and he repented that he had spoken to the Lord, and said: "I will lay my hands upon my mouth, for I have spoken once, and I will not return again" (Job xxxix, 34, 35). In like manner also, the prophet Isaiah first rebuked the people for their sins: but after he saw the Lord of Sabaoth, and the seraphim standing around Him, he made his humility more manifest, saying: "Woe is me, for I am a man having unclean lips" (Isa. vi, 5). Nor did the disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ, who used to eat and drink with Him, fear to speak to Him; but when He was transfigured on Mount Tabor, and His appearance was changed, they fell upon their face, acknowledging their own poverty and humility, knowing that they were nothing before the glory of the Lord Christ. And many more testimonies of this kind exist among us. For the cause of the excessive humiliation of the saints is from this: that they had seen the glory of the Lord. But the work which the Lord performed with His disciples is sufficient, and more than sufficient, for us to recognize that true humility exists in a soul in this world, by gazing from afar upon the glory which it is to attain. For the holy Gospel

^A asserts that our Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that the Father had delivered all things into his hands, rose from supper, and laying aside his garments, girded himself with a towel, and having poured water into a basin, began to wash the feet of his disciples and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded, because the disciples had become humble.

By the same reasoning, my most beloved in the Lord, when you have already seen the glory of the Lord, and have known his inheritance which you are to attain, put away from you the glory of men and persist in this great humility, nor depart from place to place on account of the glory of men; for you should forget your former poverty. For I see some, of whom this is the image, namely, desiring the glory of men: but if they have attained it in the congregation of their habitation, they take care to betake themselves to other congregations, so that there may be an addition of human glory to them. Therefore, acknowledging this, my little children, do not take yourselves from congregation to congregation on account of the glory of men; but be among yourselves as children, and imitate those two disciples of John the Baptist, who in no wise abandoned him, intending to hunt after glory before another; but recognizing that the Lord Jesus Christ was greater than John, by the testimony borne concerning him by John himself, they followed him that they might become as renewed children. So, therefore, do at all times, as often as you draw near to one who is greater than you, so that the scripture may be fulfilled in you: Thy youth shall be renewed like the eagle. And say: We are indeed sinners, and bewail yourselves on account of those things which you have done ignorantly. And for this reason truly ^C the will of the Lord will be with you, and working in you: for he is good and pardons the sins of all who return to him from among all men, and will no more remember them. Verily, however, he desires that they themselves be mindful of their own sins which they have heretofore committed, lest, forgetting them, they be compelled to render an account of those sins which have already been forgiven them: for so indeed it happened to that servant to whom his master had forgiven the talents which he owed him. But, forgetting a matter of this kind, and acting iniquitously toward his fellow-servant, his master demanded back from him whatever he owed him which he had already forgiven him, because he had not had compassion on his fellow-servant by forgiving him a hundred denarii; which sum was small in respect to that which had been forgiven him. Moses also commanded his people that they should not forget their former sins, saying to them: Entering into the land of your inheritance, take care that, when you have become rich, you do not eat and drink and become ungrateful; but remember your servitude in Egypt, and also those things by which you provoked the Lord to anger in the desert: and let this memory be with you for all your life enduring. And this, surely, my little children, is for our instruction, when we have been long in servitude in Egypt, which is ^D sin, to which we have subjected ourselves of our own will.

Let us strive, therefore, to enter the land of promise, when having entered, we may not forget our servitude; but let us always remember it, lest, eating and drinking, we become ungrateful. And not only does Moses teach us these things; but the remaining prophets likewise teach us that we should not forget our sins, which God has already forgiven us, and which God has forgotten; but that we should always remember them, so that we may be perpetually humble before the Lord, as those who stand before him, to whom they are bound by debt. Consider also the prophet David, who, when he had sinned regarding the wife of Uriah, and Nathan the prophet had rebuked him for her sake, and on account of what he had perpetuated against her husband, having heard the rebuke, he was immediately led to repentance and humbled. Therefore Nathan said to him: The Lord has already put away thy sins. But David, after obtaining the forgiveness of his sins, indeed did not forget them, nor did he put the memory of them away from himself, but consigned it to posterity: and it came to pass for a memorial in all generations from generation to generation. And having certainly obtained forgiveness, he says: I will teach the wicked thy ways, and the impious shall be converted to thee. All of which things David indeed said, so that all sinners might learn from him, and repent after his likeness; and so that they might not forget their own sins which are forgiven them, but always be mindful of them. Similarly, God said through the prophet Isaiah: Behold, I blot out thy iniquities, and will not remember thy sins: do thou, however, remember them before all things, that thou mayest be justified. Wherefore it is fitting for the sinner, that when God has forgiven him his sins, he himself should not forget them, but be mindful, that he may be justified. He also says through the prophet Jeremiah: Return to me, all the house of Israel; and I will not bring my reproach upon you; for I am merciful, says the Lord, and I will not be angry with you forever; verily, however, know thy iniquity, because thou art unaware of thy very self, and hast become impious toward thy God.

By the same reasoning, my little children, it behooves us, that when our Lord has forgiven us our sins, we should by no means forgive them to ourselves, but should always be mindful of them through the renewal of repentance. Hence John the Baptist, while he was baptizing the people for the remission of sins, instructed them, saying: Be not void of care concerning the remission of your sins, but bring forth fruits worthy of repentance; for already the axe is laid to the root of the tree; and every tree not bringing forth good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire. Which things, indeed, I have recalled to your memory, my most beloved, since I am mindful of the greatness of your virtues; and so that, by you being negligent, your light may not be obscured; and furthermore, so that there may be for you an increase of fruits worthy of the angelic habit in which you are clothed. Know this also, how, namely, that man finding the treasure hidden in the field, sold all that he possessed, and bought it.

^A But now, most beloved, the glory of the Lord has been made manifest to all in the participation: however, do not think on this, lest you glory, but remember the humility and meekness of your former poverty; and you shall be indeed as those ignorant of it. For Moses, when he was glorified, was ignorant of the splendor of the glory of his countenance on account of his humility and meekness: but the people knew it; wherefore they feared his presence; and for this cause Moses veiled his face. You also, my most beloved, if you cast away from you the goods of this fleeting world, which is the land of the dead, just as they did whose mention has preceded, may your hope be firm that you will obtain goods from the Lord in the land of the living. Do not, therefore, my blessed little children, strive to please men who are in the region of the dead, lest by chance you be unable to please God in the region of the living. Having obtained, however, the resolution of your sins, do not spare yourselves alone, lest the fruits of your repentance be powerless; but imitate the teacher of the whole world, the Apostle Paul, who, after God had spared him by appearing to him and speaking to him, did not spare himself, nor did he forget his former foolishness, of which the Lord had forgotten in His mercy, but says: "I was persecuting the Church of God"; and things like this. And may our Lord Jesus Christ keep you in his obedience forever. Amen.

EPISTLE XVII

He says: Know, my little children, that he is not religious who perseveres in one thing; nor is he who embraces one thing, an enemy to virtue. For if religion is the glory of virtue, many evil men indeed oppose it. Whosoever, therefore, wishes to be perfect in religiosity, let him serve no evil at all. For he who serves any evil is surely far distant from the finish line of perfection. For perfection is, as is said: "I have become free from all, that I might gain the more." Which statement the Apostle Paul asserts, because he was then in no way subject to evil, nor was he any longer conscious of being led astray himself. But when he had been made free from evil, and was vindicated unto the end, he prayed for the humility of many who wished to subject themselves to evil, and were unable in the least to deliver themselves from the sin of their own evils, since they were lacking in the virtue of the one who says in the Psalm: "Let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away their yoke from us." But when the Apostle Paul had seen the Lord Jesus Christ, he attained perfection; and then he helped the powerless, that they might arrive at the finish line and go upwards: this, moreover, [he did] by his excessive humility in the likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ, who by huge humility covered his divinity with humanity; and they saw him as a man, although he is not only man, but God made human, according to what is written: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. Paul also, the apostle perfect in the precepts which the Lord had commanded him, said with humility: "I became as one not having the law, as though I had not the law; so that, made without law, I might gain those who have not the law." Nor, furthermore, was the Apostle made outside his own perfection, just as neither was the Lord made outside his own divinity through his incarnation, which was altogether necessary for him, just as it is said in the law, and as it is written in the Gospel, that the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. Therefore, the Apostle was in his perfection, because first he was freed from all evils. Secondly, he served no concupiscences thereafter, ^B because he had been made religious. Finally, indeed, he was made free by the look of the Lord Jesus Christ; having seen whom, he immediately followed his words without delay, and was made extremely humble.

Similarly, all who embrace the words of the Lord acknowledge the truth; and the truth makes them free, and snatches their souls from every evil, just as the Apostle Paul was made; for our liberator showed him to be free; and therefore he said of himself: "Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord, as those first ones saw him?" But many say in their foolishness: "We have surely seen the Lord Jesus Christ, as the apostles did." Who, indeed, my little children, are deceived and led astray, and have not eyes with which to see, as the Apostle saw the Lord. For the Apostle saw the Lord, just as the apostles who were with him saw him, and who had believed in him at that time, when he walked surrounded by the crowds who saw him as a man. Whom, when the woman who was in the flow of blood had seen with the eyes of her heart, and believed him to be God, and touched the hem of his garment with faith, she was liberated. He, however, said: "Who touched me?" Not because he was ignorant, but that he might manifest her faith. Wherefore Peter said to him: "The crowd presses you, and you say: Who touched me?" But she, manifesting that she had been healed, the Lord said to her: "Go in peace, your faith has made you whole." Similarly, Pilate, Annas, and Caiaphas ^C saw the Lord, but like the rest of the crowd, who saw him without faith, and not as the apostles saw him: therefore they gained no profit from having seen him. But the Apostle saw him with the eyes of his heart and his own most valid faith, just as she who was in the flow of blood saw him, and touched him with faith, and was healed. And just as our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to the apostle Paul after the passions were overcome, and made him free. In a like manner, whoever becomes free from passions will see the Lord with the eyes of his heart, and becomes free; but he is not able to see with bodily eyes that most splendid light which the apostle Paul saw. But those who lead their own souls astray and deceive them, because ^D

they are incapable of obtaining the bread of life, having dark eyes, do not please God, whom all the saints adore in their hearts and contemplate; for to such and those who are like them, the Lord manifests Himself, since they are least subject to the passions. For it is written of Isaiah the prophet, that the Lord did not appear to the prophet again, because he had not rebuked king Uzziah, and prophecy was forbidden to him. However, after the death of Uzziah, the angel of the Lord appeared to him, and cleansed him with hot coals and tongs. Therefore, know that when the kingdom of sin is dead in a person, God appears to the soul, and cleanses it together with the body. But if the kingdom of sin lives in the body, a person surely cannot see God: for the soul is placed in darkness, and the light, which is the vision of God, does not appear in it. For David says: In thy light we shall see light. But what is this light, by which a man sees light? It is the light which our Lord Jesus Christ mentions in the Gospel: namely, that a man may be all luminous, and that there may be no part in him that is dark. And just as he also said: No one knows the Father, except the Son, and he to whom the Son wishes to manifest him. But the Son, my little children, does not manifest the Father to the children of darkness, but to those who remain in the light, and who are the children of light, whose heart's eyes he has illuminated with the knowledge of the commandments. We ought, then, first to imitate Moses, the greatest of the prophets, that we may find the glory of the faith of the invisible God. For when Moses had become the son of Pharaoh's daughter, and had chosen to labor with the people of God, he cast off from himself ^A the slavery full of abjection; and hitherto he had not seen God, while he was in slavery: but once that slavery of Pharaoh was cast off, he became free, and deserved to see the bush burning with fire, yet unconsumed. It is said, moreover, that it was a great vision, and it had a beginning and a vision of the middle mystery and the end.

This Moses, indeed, when he abandoned Egypt and fled from Pharaoh, was in his fortieth year, and he performed his work against Pharaoh: wherefore he became a solitary in the desert of Midian, the interpretation of which is, the place of God. And the intellect, separated from the multitude, and dwelling alone, God strengthens and renders stable, so that it may be able to seek and investigate those things which are of the Lord; and then it will see the magnitude of his power and divinity and splendor in creation. Therefore, my little children, the beginning of the great vision is the first vision, which Moses saw in the miracle of miracles, that the bush was burning and was not consumed. Which vision is indeed quite far from perfection. But the vision of the second mystery is an approach nearer than in the former time. For he said: I will go and will see this great vision. But to him who approaches, a conversation took place. And perfection is his humility ^B after the conversation and the vision and the performance of signs. You should certainly know, my little children, that these various aspects of God are for the imperfect, just as for those who see in a mirror: but for those who have attained to perfection, the eyes of their heart are opened, and the greatest light appears to them with rest without labor. Since in the eyes of the perfect nothing remains of the reprehension of sin or darkness, because if these two are implanted in the heart, they by no means allow the soul to see the vision of perfection which belongs to the perfect, such as was the vision of Paul and those like him, of whom the Apostle said: We behold with unveiled face the glory of the Lord, as one seeing in a mirror, and we are transformed from glory to glory. ^C Likewise, Moses did not migrate from one place to another, nor from one region to another, but he migrated with a migration that was clearly miraculous. For he saw this great vision, which is the kindling of fire in the bush without combustion, furthermore a conversation and vision. Which miraculous contemplation is a type of the incomprehensible mystery. And this is the migration, which the apostle Paul mentions; that it is a migration from glory to glory, and from faith to faith, and from a less perfect virtue to a more perfect virtue. Which migration and approach is that which makes us draw near to the Lord, and acquire the vision of the knowledge of his power. Since God said through the tongue of his prophet: Those who approach me shall know my power. He, therefore, who approaches the Lord, knows his power; but in the intellect which has not yet approached God, the impious one, who is the devil, is exalted, like the cedar of Lebanon. But when that intellect has approached God, and has been united to him and has become one with him, the impious one who was initially exalted within it no longer appears. Regarding which matter David teaches us, saying: I have seen the impious one already raised to a height, and exalted like the cedars of Lebanon; and I passed by, and behold he was not; and I sought him, and his place was not found. David, indeed, did not seek the impious one, nor his place, except by inquiring about the knowledge of God. Similarly, whoever inquires about the knowledge of God does not find the impious one at all. But his expression, I passed by, is also similar to his expression in another psalm: I will pass through the shaded places of wonders to the house of God. Which transition, which is ^D a further crossing, indicates to us the growth of the soul: for this the prophet gave as a sign of the perfect, when previously his way had been most remote from God. And do not marvel, my little children, that our way is most remote, while we are yet engaged in spiritual childhood. For we see it said to that great prophet Elijah: Arise, eat and drink, and be strengthened; for yet the way is long for you. And of this same distance David said: Who will give me wings as of a dove, that I may fly, and find rest? But from these things we must know that the life of each one of us is needy, and the way is laborious. Wherefore it is necessary that...

we do not walk in infirmity and dissolution and ^A sloth, but cautiously and with stability. For Paul, the teacher of the world, counsels us to run, that we may apprehend. And he says also: I bring into subjection my body, and bring it into servitude.

Let us run, therefore, my little children, while we have time in this body, that we may apprehend perfection, even as that holy Paul apprehended it, who said: I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept my faith, and from that time there is laid up for me a crown of glory. And when this Apostle had apprehended perfection in the body, he desired to depart from it, and therefore said: If I have fruits in my works in this life of the body, I know not what I should choose for myself; for I am straitened between two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ; and this is better and more useful for me: but to remain in the body is necessary for your joy and the increase of your faith. Let your conversation, therefore, be worthy of the Gospel. In like manner, my little children, do you also, since the end overtakes him who acts slothfully and sluggishly before he attains perfection in Christ, as Solomon said in Proverbs, that the souls of the transgressors of the law are taken away before they arrive at the fear of God. And so it happened to king Hezekiah, when the end of his days caught up with him, seeing that he was without care, but by turning back and doing penance and praying to the Lord, he merited an increase of other years, and grew more satisfied. Which ^B years being completed, his soul was separated from his body, while he was in the highest perfection of the service of God. Know also this, that just as there are three states for the body, as long as the soul is in it, namely childhood, manhood, and old age: likewise the soul also possesses three states hidden within the body, namely the beginning of faith, progress, and perfection. But when the soul first begins to believe, it is born in Christ, as it is said in the Gospel. John the Apostle also gave us a sign of this birth, and of the middle state, and of perfection, when he said: I write unto you, young men, I write unto you, children, I write unto you, fathers. Which epistle indeed is not for his bodily friends, but for the faithful, according to the three states of those who desire the rational milk and approach unto perfection, that they may merit true grace. For this reason David the prophet, knowing the state of the days of the perfection of the soul here, and that he had already grown advanced in the days of his body, and feared to be dissolved from it not having spiritual days, prayed to God saying: Take me not away, O Lord, in the midst of my days. Which care indeed troubled him for the sake of spiritual days, not corporal, since the meaning of his saying, In the midst of my days, was from fear lest his soul be taken away before the completion of his days, and he be besides an alien to perfection.

Moreover, it is asserted of Abraham, that he had grown old, and had advanced in days. Similarly, all the saints after faith wearied their bodies to subject them, since by subjecting the body they arrived at old age by an increase of the worship and service of God. Understand also, little children, the deed of Daniel, who was a boy in body, but an old man in intellect: not however like those two elders, who were advanced in their days according to the body, but their works were indeed the works of boys, and they were distracted by childish concupiscence. For Daniel reproved them with manifest words of childhood on account of their childish bodily old age, and their judgment against the holy, just, and pure Susanna, saying: O ye grown old in evil days, and the rest of the words. Similarly, it behooves him who loves religion to imitate the purity and continence of Joseph; and let him begin to order himself by contemplation, and to be strengthened against all other strong concupiscences of the crafty enemy, and let him say as Job said, that his strength was exhausted from his back and his loins. And truly, my little children, everyone who struggles and is comforted against these bodily concupiscences which are excited by excessive food and drink, he himself is able to gird his loins in purity, and to strengthen his heart by the saying of the psalm: Gird thy ^C sword upon thy thigh, O giant. By which saying is denoted that the word of God by which purity is obtained is a sharp sword, cutting away, as the Apostle says: which sword truly is able to cut away and slay all evil concupiscences. Similarly also the angel struggling with Jacob withdrew a nerve from his thigh: hence he grew weak, and his body was debilitated, and he was called Israel, that is, seeing God. By the same reasoning, it behooves us to debilitate the body, yet with wisdom and prudence, to debilitate and extinguish concupiscence: for this weakness perfects in us the virtue of purity. Hence the Apostle, for the sake of this weakness, says: When I am weak, then I am strong. Similarly, David the prophet also boasted of this infirmity, saying: There is no health in my body. Which he surely said because he had debilitated his body with extreme weakness, mostly desiring salvation, which is not infirmity, but health and soundness, since when the body is debilitated, the soul is strengthened.

Therefore, let us debilitate our bodies wisely and prudently, that we may be able to contain ourselves; for if we shall subject the body, and reduce it into the servitude of the soul, then carnal thoughts, whose love is the enmity of God, are mortified by this debility; and then the soul is illuminated, and becomes a temple to God. Whosoever, therefore, desires to become pure in all his members, such a one is truly religious, and is not a fornicator; and he is able to say with David: All my bones shall say: Who is like unto thee, O God? And this is that man who ^D brings all his senses

^A under discipline and has not left them to dominate him, but has restrained them, and has carried the yoke of the Lord upon them with great purity. Therefore, he has not permitted his eyes to see anything evil, nor to covet a woman. Furthermore, he has not permitted his ears to listen to whisperings, nor to the counsels of the devil, or thoughts injected by him. And therefore, the Scripture is fulfilled concerning him: Thy ears are not inclined to vain words. And these words have rendered him much more submissive to the goodness of Christ, and a most sweet incense. He has also placed locks upon his mouth, and has not permitted it to be vacant for foolish words. And he has directed his hands to work, without tyranny, reaching for the best works with mercy and truth. And his feet have not run to the shedding of blood, but have diligently hastened to the words of the Lord: Whosoever shall force thee one mile, go with him other two (Matt. v, 41). He has also guarded his belly and his breast, lest, with these intervening, he might fall upon the earth, like the dragon which creeps upon the earth, upon its belly and its breast. And this, brethren, is the standard of the religious man. But those who are not religious, but who hasten at the dawning of the day to the drinking of strong drink, let us hear concerning them the dictum of the prophet who says: They are consumed by their drunkenness from wine, and they give their eyes to reach for cups, and they eat kids from the flock of sheep, and fat calves from the herd of oxen, and they revel in soft beds, and in all that is akin to material things (Amos vi, 4-6). Yet they imagine themselves to be wise, while they are enemies and dragons; for the dragon is their master; and they have cast their bellies and their breasts upon the earth, thinking themselves to be prudent, and those who are skilled in the Scripture, how wickedly they teach, when they are the breasts of a dragon.

Know therefore, my little children, that those whom the prophet points out are the transgressors of true knowledge and the right faith, by introducing alien professions into the fold, and by opposing the stable faith with their own unstable and deceitful faith, asserting that the Creator of all things is a creature, ignorant that God created all things by His Word, just as the evangelist John has testified, saying of Him: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. All things were made by him, and without him was made nothing (John i, 3). Since, therefore, it is confirmed that all things were made by Him, celestial and terrestrial, visible and invisible, as the truthful faith testifies: ^B by what reasoning do these men dare to say of Him that, after the union, He is as one of the creatures, because the body of Christ is created? Are these indeed they who have enclosed the breast of their heart under the breast of the dragon, as the prophet foretold of them, that the dragon, namely, presses their breasts and bellies? But those who have lifted up their intellects, my little children, from the earth, looking up to heaven where Christ sits at the right hand of God, and have become apart from the belly and the concupiscences; our Lord Jesus receives them, and will offer them to His Father as something precious and of the best quality. Which things being known, my most beloved, it behooves that each one ^A of us who desires to be religious should strive to withdraw from the crowds and to depart from them, that he may be, in body and heart and intellect, outside the disturbances of the rabble and its manner of life, since disturbance always dwells among men. But our Lord has become for us an example of withdrawal and solitude, ascending alone into the mountain to pray apart. In the desert, He also overcame the devil struggling with Him, and surely He was not powerless to overcome him in the midst of the multitude; but it was that He might teach us that we are able more easily to overcome the enemy and attain perfection in solitude and silence. Likewise, the Lord Himself did not reveal His glory to His disciples before all men, but He took them, and ascended the mountain, and showed them His glory. John the Baptist also was in the desert until his manifestation to Israel. Therefore, let it be known to you, my little children, how our enemy urges us with his weapons, both extrinsic and intrinsic, taking to himself certain men as an instrument and weapon, because they obey him; and through these he makes himself an adversary to the faithful: such as is the unchaste woman, who is his most powerful weapon, extending her wings with a bold spirit. Peter also, the prince of the apostles, teaches us the usefulness of solitude, insofar as when he was alone, he saw the heavens opened and a sheet descending upon him, regarding which God spoke to him; then the sheet was taken up from him, ascending into heaven.

^C By the same reasoning, when Ezekiel had seen the four animals, having four faces, and indicating the whole glory of God, it was not in the city, nor in a town, but outside in the field; for God had said to him: Go forth into the field, and there thou shalt see my glory (Ezech. iii, 23). In sum, these visions and manifestations were by no means made to the saints, unless in mountains and solitudes. Moreover, the Apostle Paul also spoke of these saints and their venerable institute in the Epistle to the Hebrews, saying thus: They wandered about in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens, and in caves of the earth (Hebr. xi, 38). Similarly also, the prophet, knowing that solitude is pleasing to God, said: It is good for a man to bear the yoke of the Lord from his youth, and to sit alone (Thren. iii, 27, 28); and the psalmist David also says: I will remain alone, until iniquity pass away (Psal. iv, 10). The prophet Jeremiah also, because he knew very well that the disturbances of the crowds bring great trouble to those who desire to please God, did not refrain from saying: Who will give me a dwelling in the wilderness, that I may cast away from me this people, and go, and be far from them (Jerem. ix, 2)? ^D Know therefore, my little children, the virtue of solitude: seeing that our Lord by His frequent solitude established for us a firm hope of the love of solitude, just as David the prophet says: Thou, O Lord, hast made me to dwell in hope secure (Psal. iv, 10). The prophet Elijah also merited spiritual food and nourishment from the angels; which, however, was not in the midst of crowds nor in a city or town, but only in the desert.

Everything that happened to the saints and things similar to these has been written for our instruction, that we might imitate those who have loved solitude, which is able to lead us to the Lord; which is a great consolation and makes a man perfect. When certain people have loved this with all their strength and with all their being, they have attained glory and light, more so than those who dwell in cities and towns. Therefore, my most beloved children, strive for my sake in the Lord to be established in this as is fitting, so that it may lead you to the vision of God, which is spiritual contemplation itself, through the grace of our Lord and our God and the one who gives life to our souls and our bodies, Jesus Christ, the eternal Word, to whom be praise forever. Amen.

LETTER XVIII

He said: ^A Therefore, resist him, and recognize his phantasms, since he hides his bitterness under sweetness, so that it might not appear; and he models for you various and beautiful images, which certainly are not what they appear to be, so that he may incline your hearts toward himself by imitating the truth with cunning; and this is his art always, namely, to oppose with all his strength all souls who serve God well. He also injects into the soul many and various passions to extinguish that fire by which virtue subsists, especially through bodily rest and things connected to it. But if he notices that he is not being obeyed at all and that his business is not being received in any way, he brings in other cunning devices under the guise of justice, and he appears in the likeness of an angel of light, as the Apostle Paul says, and things greater than these, to incline our heart to him. But if he sees that they are guarding themselves against these things and are not accepting them at all, nor obeying him in the slightest, then he retreats from them in confusion, and then the Spirit of God will dwell in them.

When the Spirit of God has dwelt in them, He will make them rest in all their works, and the carrying of the yoke of God is rendered sweet to them, as it is written in the Gospel: Take my yoke upon you. And they are made completely tireless, both in exercising virtues and in ministering and in nightly vigils; nor will they become angry at human injustices, nor will they fear man or beast at all, nor charity nor spirits; since the joy of the Lord is with them by night and by day, and it increases their intellect and feeds them. Indeed, by this joy the soul always grows and is prepared, and by it, it ascends into heaven; just as the subsistence and stability of the body is through bread and water, or things similar to these, from its beginning to its end. For we see a child receiving growth from its mother's milk, then some soft food, and finally whatever comes to it day by day; and it is strengthened, and its heart is made more bold against enemies that oppose it. But if it is seized by some illness and is prevented from being fed, then enemies prevail against it from all sides and overcome it; nor will it be able to obtain health from the illness or overcome the enemies, except by the custom and care of a physician. ^B Thus is the soul of man; if the joy of God is not within it, it will grow weak and falls into the wounds of evil. But if it tries to seek some man, a minister of God skilled in spiritual medicine, and clings to him, he will first heal it from its passions, and it will rise again, and he will instruct it for the sake of God, and it will obtain that joy which is its food; then indeed it will be able to resist the enemies which are the evil spirits, and it will overcome them and trample upon their counsels, and it will be perfected in joy.

Know, my most beloved children, that from the beginning, when the soul turned away from the commandment, disobedience arose; through this disobedience, all souls began to go to the underworld, as the Apostle said: That through the first Adam came death. Therefore, God the Word was moved by compassion, and He became incarnate from us by an incomprehensible mystery, and He fulfilled the whole dispensation of our salvation, and He descended into the underworld, and He made those captives; and He brought back from there all the souls held there, snatching them from the power of the devil until the day of the tremendous judgment; and He made them ascend, because they willingly complied and obeyed, and they performed the divine precepts, to heaven where paradise is. And the cause of their ascension to heaven was the invisible fire, which is the heat of good works, which has been kindled in their hearts. Nor do I make these things plain to you only; but also to what this soul is similar, in which the fire of God has dwelt. It is similar to a bird endowed with two wings with which it flies, and is lifted up through the air of the heavens. For to a bird, above all creatures, wings are peculiar assets; but the wings of the soul that follows the Lord are the power of the fire of God, with which it is able to fly upward to heaven. ^C If, however, it lacks these wings, it will not be able to be lifted up into the air at all, since it is destitute of that fire, and it will be similar to a bird stripped of its wings which cannot fly. Furthermore, man's soul is compared to a bird, since heat is the cause of its existence in the world; for unless a bird always warms its eggs, living chicks would not be produced from them, since their life cannot exist without the medium of heat. And for this reason, the holy Gospel says: Jerusalem, slayer of the prophets and stoner of those sent to it, how often have I wished to gather your children, as a bird gathers its chicks under its wings? But when, my little children, you have understood the similarity of the soul devoted and obedient to God to the bird whose existence has heat as its root, do not permit yourselves to be stripped of the power of this fire; for there are prepared for you many struggles from the devil on account of this fire granted to you by God.

^D Now therefore, my most beloved, when you have known this, beware of the counsels of the wicked devil; for he comes in

the likeness of a true reporter to deceive and beguile. When he comes to you in the likeness of an angel of light, do not believe or obey him; since he hunts for the faithful with apparent pretexts. Those, however, who are not yet perfect, are ignorant of these craftinesses of the devil and those things which he perpetually injects into them; but the perfect know these things, just as the Apostle says: "Solid food is for the perfect, for those who have trained their senses and their powers (21), and have known the discernment of good and evil." For the enemy cannot seduce these: but as for the faithful who are not yet perfect, and who are not at all on their guard, he will deceive them with a sweet bait, even though it is not sweet, and will drag them just as a fisherman drags a fish with a hook covered by bait: and because of that the fish is ignorant that the hook is covered by the bait; hence it approaches, and swallows the bait, and is quickly taken. Wherefore understand this, that if the fish had known that it was to be caught by that bait, without doubt it would have fled from it, and by no means approached it. In a similar way indeed the enemy hunts the imperfect faithful, by causes hardly unlike, as the wise Solomon asserts: "There is a way that is thought to be right; but its end leads to the depths of hell." It is also written in the prophet Amos: "Amos, what do you see? And he replied: I see a net set for catching birds." Now it is known that a bird, for fear of being caught on the ground, raises itself into the air, and builds itself a dwelling in the highest places for rest and lodging; and thus sleeping, it will be without care, since no one can reach it or catch it. But we see the hunter act cunningly, and work against it, he who coming beneath its places spreads a net for it, and shows it bait, and for that reason makes it descend from that height, and hunts it. The devil does likewise, hunting the imperfect faithful with his craftinesses that are truly not dissimilar, although they are not so situated, and casts them headlong from their height. For this very reason he acted when he hid himself under the serpent, and said to Eve: "If you eat from the tree, you will be made gods, and your eyes will be opened." But when Eve heard these words, her heart was inclined toward it, and she thought it to be true, because she did not investigate this. But when she had eaten, and had offered to Adam to eat, that great unhappiness befell them, and both fell from their height. He acts similarly toward the imperfect faithful, while they do not know how to distinguish between good and evil, but follow their own inclinations, and are content with their own opinion and judgment, and do not care to learn from their fathers who are already perfect, and have distinguished between good and evil; but they have followed the desires of their own heart, imagining that they alone have already obtained perfection and the blessing of their fathers. These, however, my little children, are like those birds that have built their nests in the air, and have descended to the ground, and have been hunted by the hunters appearing with their arts. Similar things indeed will happen to these ^A on account of the confidence they have assumed for themselves, and because they act according to the will of their own heart, fulfilling their own desires, and by no means yielding, nor obeying their own fathers. Hence the devil induces these visions and phantasms into them, and works in them the pride of the heart, suggesting to them at night dreams which he will confirm for them by day, so that they might be deceived. Nor is this only the case; but he also induces lights for them ^B at night, so that their places are illuminated, and he does very many such things, and also signs, which we cannot bring forward here nor describe one by one. Which indeed he works, so that they might be at ease, thinking him to be an angel of God, and that they embrace him. But when they have received him in this manner, he casts them headlong from their height, just as we said about the fall of those birds, on account of the spirit of pride that has dominated them. And that they might persuade themselves that they have become great and glorious in spirit above many, he takes care that they do not add to obey their own fathers; and the scripture is fulfilled concerning them, that they are "flowering sour grapes"; and in truth they are such: for the doctrine of the Fathers has been shown to be arduous for them, because they thought they already knew everything.

Wherefore, my blessed little children, understand what I have said to you, namely, that you will not be able to progress at all, or to grow better, or to be perfected, or to know how to distinguish between good and evil, unless you have yielded to your perfect fathers. For our fathers acted thus, obeying their own fathers, and listening to their teachings; therefore they progressed, and grew, and became doctors, just as it is written in the Wisdom of the son of Sirach: "Learn from your fathers, who learned from their fathers." You, therefore, my little children, it is fitting to imitate those who obeyed their own fathers, and yielded to them in all things, whom through God's help the fathers taught everything that they bad learned from their fathers, and they themselves taught their obedient sons. For Isaac yielded ^C to Abraham, and Jacob obeyed Isaac, and Joseph obeyed Jacob, and Elisha obeyed Elijah, and Paul obeyed Ananias, and Timothy obeyed Paul; and these and their likes obeyed their own fathers, fulfilling their wills and obedience in all things, and they knew the truth, and learned justice, and finally earned the Holy Spirit; and then they brought forth truth ^D in all things, as it is written in the prophet Ezekiel: "I have appointed you a ruler for the house of Israel." Therefore, most beloved in the Lord and upright of heart, if you desire to progress, and to grow better, and to be rendered imperturbable in your hearts, and not to be deluded by devils in anything, obey your fathers, and yield to them, and you will not fall forever. I truly will teach you other works, which strengthen a man from the beginning even to the end; and they are, that a man love God with all his soul, with all his heart, and with all his mind, and be subject to Him; and then God will give him virtue

^A and great joy; and all the works of God are rendered sweet to him like a honeycomb; and furthermore all his bodily labors, and meditations, and vigils, and the carrying of the yoke of God become for him light and sweet. But on account of the Lord’s love for men, He brings upon them certain adversities, not that they may be puffed up, but that they may persist in the struggle and receive increase—that is, for fortitude, heaviness and infirmity; for joy, sadness; for quiet and tranquility, perturbation; for sweetness, bitterness; and many other things of this kind occur to one who loves God; and because of this he will be the more strengthened by struggling against them and by overcoming them. These being overcome, the Holy Spirit will be with him in all things, so that he shall fear no evil at all. I pray, however, to my Lord, that He may bestow upon you this grace for the sake of your obedience, which He may keep for you. To whom with His good Father and the Holy Spirit, be praise and honor from all rational beings forever. Amen.

EPISTLE XIX.

To his sons the monks.

^A or any impotence, but to teach us, just as His first temptations were for our proof; for He came of His own accord from on high, yet He did not abandon it, and He dwelt upon the earth, and assumed our likeness, that He might redeem us, through those dispensations which He wrought through it; and He died for us, and was buried, and rose again, and delivered the captives of hell, and ascended to the heights of the heavens where He was before. See, therefore, my beloved little children, the love of the Word of God, who led us out of the pit of hell to the heights of the heavens: for the heaven above is one thing, and the visible heaven is another, and the visible heaven is different from the air, which is wind here blowing with its lightness; but the space of the air is different from this dense earth, in which we now are and from which we shall shortly depart. Know, however, ^B that the operations of heaven are different from the operations of the earth: and that there is another region, heavier than this earth, very difficult and dark, and there is nothing in it of light or rest, and it is called hell. But the temptation, my little children, which recently befell me, was not far from leading me to this very same hell: for the enemies of the good wished to cast me into it with their great cunning. And for these things were my labors, and struggles, and anguishes, and perturbations. But I, a wretched man, give thanks to my God, and offer praises to Him, whom I have served with all my heart from my youth until now, and I have obeyed Him, since He did not abandon me, but helped me, and snatched me from the darkness of the enemies, and again restored me to my former elevation, just as He redeemed Adam and his good sons, and led them back to their former order. For it is written: He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men (Ps. LXVII, 19). I make known to you further that my last temptation was similar to the last temptation of Joseph; for Joseph, blessed and just, when he was tempted by a multitude of temptations, was not perturbed; yet very recently, when he had been thrust into prison, which is a likeness of hell, he was perturbed by this temptation. But our Lord, in His clemency, when He saw the beauty of his struggle and patience, gave him great honor, and appointed him king, and he was no longer tempted. Truly indeed, my beloved little children, I do not hide from you the measure ^D of the temptation in which I was involved, and from which my Lord delivered me; and I am indeed certain that I have attained this by your orations and prayers, and the remembrance of me with which you follow me. For you have borne enough of labor with me; and certainly the Lord will give you the spirit of salvation, just as He gave it to my poverty. For He said to His disciples: But you who have continued with me in my temptations, I appoint unto you, as my Father has promised me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom (Luc. XXII, 29, 30). Wherefore perceive, my little children, the meaning of these words; that is to say, whoever becomes a partaker with Christ, by obeying Him, shall also be a partaker with Him in ^A the places of rest; and he who also becomes a partaker with Him in contempt, shall also be a partaker with Him in glory. For he who suffers labors and reproaches and injuries and contempt, he himself shall be glorified. For it is written: A good son himself shall inherit the labors and the blessings of his parents; but a bad son shall inherit a curse.

Know also, my beloved little children, that after I wrote this epistle to you, the Spirit moved me, that I should write to you concerning the Seraphim whom the prophet Ezekiel saw (Ezech. I, sqq.), which is a type of the faithful souls who struggle to attain perfection. It had six wings covered with eyes; it had also four faces, looking into four parts. One face was like the face of a man, another indeed like the face of an ox, and another like the face of a lion, and another like the face of an eagle; and the rest of which the prophet makes mention, which at this time it is not permitted for me to write to you. But I will explain to you a few things regarding the meaning of these; but when I shall have come to you by the help of Christ, I will explain to the rest to you face to face, since I am not able to write about these things now. Know, therefore, the first face of the Seraphim, which is the face of a man, designates the faithful who are in the world, performing those precepts which have been enjoined upon them; but if any of these shall have gone out to the monastic habit, he is assimilated to the face of an ox, ^B in that he labors and is solicitous about the precepts of the monastic life; for he acts and struggles the sensible struggle. But if he shall have completed the orders of the congregation, and shall have gone out to dwell in solitude, and shall have been separated to fight the invisible demons; then this one is assimilated to the face of the lion, which is the king of wild beasts. But when he shall have overcome the invisible enemies, and shall have mastered the passions and shall have subjected them to himself, he shall be lifted up by the Holy Spirit, and shall see divine visions, and shall be assimilated to the face of the eagle, and he shall be filled with that which is in Scripture: Thy youth shall be renewed like the eagle's (Ps. CII, 5). And then his intellect shall discern whatever things can befall him from the six parts, and he shall be assimilated to those six wings covered with eyes; and he shall become a spiritual Seraphim, and he shall inherit the eternal inheritance, in that he has obeyed his spiritual fathers.

But I know, my little children, ^C that we all have already received power from the Lord, because we have obeyed our fathers, and have received their blessing. You also, because of your obedience and ministry, shall receive a ministry from the Lord and shall inherit the blessing of your fathers. I say indeed to you, that I am always mindful of you, and I see you in the spirit, as a parent pious and merciful is mindful of his little children. Often indeed my Lord wished to make me rest from the labors of this body, and to take my soul to Himself; but since the Spirit of the Lord rests in you, He left my spirit in its body to educate you, saying to it: Truly thou art a good parent and an educa-

educator; therefore I have left thee, that thou mightest educate thy children well. And now, my blessed children, with my final blessing, behold my book is with you, and my blessing: wherefore keep it, for it is a true inheritance, and the inheritance of the spiritual fathers, who by no means leave gold or silver or such like to their sons to be inherited, but a true inheritance. For they are bodily parents who leave gold and silver and such things to their sons for an inheritance. Therefore, see the patriarchs, who abounded in gold and silver and other bodily riches, and yet there is no mention that any one of them was mindful of these for his sons; since they are temporal and passing. But they left them for an inheritance that true blessing, which shall endure forever, which produces heavenly rest; and it is this that shall remain with man forever. Wherefore, know that this blessing which your father has given you is equal to that paternal blessing. May our Lord grant you peace in the Lord and the Spirit of truth, until you depart from this passing world, and inherit that world which shall endure, through the intercession of all our fathers. And praise, and glory to the most holy Trinity, the Lady of the ages, forever. Amen.

EPISTLE XX.

Most dearly beloved and venerable in the Lord, Bebnud, peace be to you. Above all, I pray to the Lord for the salvation of all the souls obedient to you, and for your own salvation as well, and for those laboring with you in the name of the Lord, and for all walking with you in peace for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. For these make the souls of their fathers rest, whom may our Lord Jesus Christ cause to rest in the kingdom of heaven. But know this, all of you, that whoever causes one of the Lord’s servants to rest, even if it be only with a cup of water, his reward shall not be lost, as our Lord says with His most holy mouth: Whoever shall give to one of these little ones one cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, amen I say to you, he shall not lose his reward; and He says also concerning those who distress the spirits of the disciples and scandalize them by their malice: But whoever shall scandalize one of these little ones who believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone should be hung about his neck, and that he should be drowned in the sea; and He said also: With what measure you shall mete, it shall be measured to you again. Wherefore, perceive, my most beloved, that the Lord loves nothing of those things which are upon the earth more than His disciples and those who do His will, and He destroys those who despise them. For whatever a man does to the servants of God, he does to Him, whether that thing be good or evil. For He said: He that receives you, receives me; and also: What you have not done to one of these least ones, you have not done to me.

Therefore, my most beloved, beware that you despise no man: for the root of this is pride, which brought anger upon men. And for this reason, the prophet Isaiah said: Behold, the day of the Lord of hosts shall come upon all the proud and haughty. Behold, therefore, my most beloved, the magnitude of this grief which shall come upon the proud. Wherefore, it behooves us to mourn for ourselves with ardor of heart and sadness; for I have seen many monks and virgins fall into this difficult passion because of their false estimation, saying of themselves: Surely we are something great, and no one shall be compared to us. But truly I say to you, most beloved, there is nothing in these but pride and contempt toward men, and hatred, and most evil emulation, and contention, because they refuse to do penance and to repent with their whole heart; and this, indeed, and similar things by no means permit them to discern between good and evil, and between sweetness and bitterness. Since the evil spirits residing in the air make them mourn at the time of laughing, and laugh at the time of mourning; and the Scripture is fulfilled concerning them: Cursed is he who makes good evil, and evil good, and who makes the bitter sweet, and the sweet bitter. These, indeed, ought to have obeyed holy John, who says: Do not believe every spirit; but test the spirits, whether they are from God.

But we have need to mourn over those who persist in these mentioned evils at all times of their life, and love them more than they love necessary food, and disdain to hear the teachings of the living God, embracing those evil teachings which are of the wicked spirits. Which teachings of God are indeed purity, perpetual peace without mutability, full of mercy, and the rest of the excellent fruits of the truth, the consummation of which is blessing. Strive, therefore, most beloved, to attain these teachings of the Spirit by which our souls are enlivened, and through them we receive the Lord within ourselves; for they are the secure way, in which no robber or any evil is found. And know that without purity of body and of heart no one can be perfect before God, according to what is written in the holy Gospel: Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God. For perfection originates from purity of heart; for there resides in the heart a double nature, namely, a natural good, and an evil beyond nature, which produces passions of the soul, which are siphoning, envy, illusion, and other evils. But the good produces the knowledge of God, and the health of the soul from all passions. Wherefore David said: Bless the Lord, O my soul, who heals all your passions. But if a man strives, my most beloved, to eradicate evil, and trusts in the Lord with righteousness, and avoids all evils, with mourning, and sadness, and sighs, and fasting, and vigils, and meekness, and many prayers to God; the Lord will assist him with His kindness, and from all

passions will deliver him, even as David said: Judge me, for I have walked in my innocence, and I have trusted in the Lord, and I shall not be weak (Ps. XXV, 1). And, as I have made known to you, my most beloved, that by these works there is health of soul from passions, I also make known to you that many who persisted a long interval of time in monasticism and virginity have not learned pure doctrine, because, neglecting the teachings of their fathers, they embraced the concupiscences of their own hearts; and therefore wicked spirits and rebellious brigands, who are in the air, prevailed against them, shooting secret arrows at them by night and by day, so that they allow them to rest in no place; furthermore, pride, and vain glory, and impious rivalry, and whispering, and wrath, and heat, and contention, and very many other passions ^A occupy their hearts. For these and such like things the demons perform, intending our death, not indeed life.

These words indeed, which I have made known to you, my most beloved, are not my own, but of those whom the Apostle James also mentions, saying: If you have bitter jealousy, and rivalries are in your hearts, do not glory and be liars against the truth; for this is not wisdom descending from above, but earthly, animal, diabolical (James III, 14, 15). It is also written in the Epistle of the Apostle John: He who commits sin is of the devil (I John III, 8). When, therefore, you have known, my most beloved, that those who persist in these works have not the work of the Lord in them, but are masters of diabolical teachings, and are reckoned with the devils, wherefore let us mourn ourselves; for this time in which we are, is a time of mourning. Let us also recognize the measure of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and let us cry out with him who says: Come, let us adore, and fall down, and weep before Him who made us (Ps. XCV, 6); and let us also say his word: Save me, O Lord, for the saint has failed, and truth has been diminished from the children of men; and everyone has spoken to his neighbor with deceitful lips, and with a double heart (Ps. XI, 2, 3). For which words and what follows, it is worth our while, since He said: The Lord shall destroy all deceitful lips and lofty tongues (Ps. XI, 4). But know, my little children, that these are they who are reckoned with the five foolish virgins, because they spent all their time in folly, and did not restrain their tongues, nor clean their eyes and their bodies from concupiscences, nor their hearts from uncleannesses and other things worthy of tears, since they are unclean; and they were content with the woolen garment alone, which is the habit of virginity only: wherefore they lacked heavenly delight to mourn themselves and light their lamps; therefore the Bridegroom did not open to them, but said to them as He said to the foolish virgins: Amen I say to you, I know you not (Matth. XXV, 12). ^B And He says to them also: Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire (Matth. XXV, 41), where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Now, therefore, my most beloved, for no other reason have I written this epistle to you, but on account of the desire for your salvation, that you may be free, and faithful, and a pure spouse to Christ; for He is the spouse of all holy souls, as the Apostle Paul says: For I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ (II Cor. XI, 2). Indeed I know that many struggles have already happened to you, my most beloved, which, by the help of our Lord who has directed you, you have avoided one by one; for God is truthful, and He strengthens you and all who minister to Him, that you may not fall into those things which you are not able to bear. Perceive, therefore, my little children, the force of the temptations which have happened to you, and the magnitude of the honors which have been given to you by God for that cause, and stand constant against those to come also. For gold is tested many times by fire, that it may appear as the choice product of a better testing. Similarly, our Lord in His kindness tests man with many temptations, and tries him, and clarifies him by means of them like most pure gold, and teaches him the struggles of the heart; so that he may no longer return to think or remember the multitude of injuries and contempt which men have brought upon him, and he will be empty of the fear of the devil; but let him be humbled before God, and trust in Him, and be always ready for good before God, as the Prophet David said: My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready; I will sing, and I will sing a psalm in my glory (Ps. CVII, 2). Know, therefore, this, that without doubt you will be tested by certain brethren, with reproaches and injuries, and you will be despised by your companions. But when these things shall have happened to you, persist, and do not fear, nor mourn; but give thanks to the Lord for all these things, because without Him nothing of these has happened to you, because it is necessary that struggles happen to the servants of the Lord; for whoever is not tested by the goodness of God with temptations, and labors, and sorrows, and calamities, until he learns the method of obtaining patience and good, certainly will not receive honor from Him. ^D

Now, therefore, my most beloved, sustain the labors and sorrows which happen to you; and give thanks to the Lord with great humility, that you may see the joy of your labors, just as the blessed Susanna, most strong in the war, who prevailed against the concupiscence of those two elders who opposed the law, who testified falsely against her, and brought upon her many labors; and on account of her patience and constancy, God exalted her at the end of her struggle, and humbled her enemies. And just as Thecla, also most strong in spirit, who feared not at all the injuries brought upon her by her parents, nor even the fire, nor the executioner, nor the fierce beasts. But at length God granted her the joy of her heart, and the rewards of her labors; for her fortitude of faith in God extinguished the fire

^A and stopped the mouths of the fierce lions, and all her enemies were humbled before her. And just as Joseph, humble before God and men, whom, when his brethren had seen him and hated him, wishing to shed his blood out of envy, on account of the honor bestowed upon him by his father, divine aid saved from death; yet envy prevailed against him, and they raised their hands against him, and finally sold him into slavery. Furthermore, the wife of his master whom he served brought many labors upon him, so much so that he was even cast into prison. For he was continent, gentle, most pure, immaculate in soul and body, and he did not fear (with God favoring him) all those hardships, but endured them, and trusted in the Lord; and finally God exalted him, establishing him as prince over Egypt and over all its regions. And all his brothers who had envied him, the Lord subjected under his feet. But these ones mentioned and those like them, my most beloved, by no means obtained honor from God at the beginning of their struggle and contest, but after He had tested them, and refined them with calamities and labors, and instructed them how to persevere in battle. Then truly, when He had seen them withstand calamities and labors, and trust in the Lord, He gave them the honor of His divinity, and they brought their haters down under the soles of their feet.

For He inculcates this, saying: "Forgive, and it shall be forgiven you." If, however, any of you suffers an accusation, let him receive it with joy, and surrender all his affairs to the Lord, who is a just judge and rewarder. But whoever has brought an accusation against a neighbor, let him hasten and humble himself before the Lord, and supplicate his neighbor, so that the Lord may spare him. Nor allow, my most beloved, the sun to go down upon your anger, just as Scripture taught us; but eradicate from your hearts all evil thoughts by which you are tormented or by which you think of one another, so that those enmities may be dissolved, the root of which is hatred and envy: which two passions are indeed most evil, and detestable to God and to men; nor is it ^B consistent that they should be present at all in any of the faithful or servants of God. Wherefore, my most beloved, if these things were once finished among you, from now on take care, that they may not exist among you, nor allow them to master you. Know also that the days of our life are very few; in them, however, we must repent of our sins before the Lord, lest the migration from here to there overtake us, while we are unawares, when we shall by no means be able to return hither. For we see those who migrate not returning to us; we too do not expect their return, but expect to follow them: which indeed is ordained for all men of this world, from the beginning until the consummation. Wherefore, my most beloved, it behooves that none of us should glory in the abundance of his folly, and say: "I have prevailed against my companion, nor shall I spare him." Let him know, saying and thinking this, that he has betrayed his strength only to death for his soul; and his inheritance shall be the place of weeping and gnashing of teeth, and of worms that do not sleep, and of inextinguishable fire.

I, however, my most beloved, while I recall the struggle and rewards of these, my spirit rejoices with joy and gladness, and I supplicate for you. Remain therefore in patience, and let not your hearts be weakened ^C in your calamities; but give thanks for them, that you may bear the reward for them from the Lord. I have indeed written these words to you, my brothers, and to all who call upon the name of the Lord, that there may be peace to you all, and truth, and the charity of God, and love toward one another; and that there may not be among you contention, or whispering, or evil thoughts, or sedition, or mutual fighting, or contradiction, or evil emulation, or disobedience, or pride, or injuries against men, or mockery, or adultery, or love of vain glory, or hatred, or lust for beautiful clothing of the body, or mutual enmities. My unhappiness, however, suppliantly begs you that you allow none of these actions among you in the place of your habitation. For in whatever congregation these actions exist, the anger of the Lord dwells there. And know, brothers, that our life in this world is very short; therefore, be anxious about it, and do not be negligent, lest your migration from this life catch you angry with one another, and therefore you be numbered among murderers according to Scripture: "Whoever hates his brother is a murderer." Which words and precepts indeed pertain not only to monks and virgins, but also to all the faithful who communicate with us in the universal apostolic Church of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now therefore, brothers, ^D known these things by us, my most beloved, let us contend while we are in this body, and let us heal the wounds of our souls, before time escapes us. And let these words be fixed in our minds, and let us carry them out before the separation of our souls from our bodies. Forasmuch as our Lord, the just judge, will send His ministers, and they will apprehend the soul, and will separate it from this house of clay. But whoever are then found unmindful of their own salvation, they shall be reserved in the outer darkness until that terrible day, and that bitter sentence shall go forth against them; and they shall be handed over to merciless tormentors, and to the jailers (in whom there is no pity) destined for the custody of that fire full of worms that do not sleep, and also of the outer darkness and of the mansions filled with cold and shivering. But those who shall be handed over to these cruel ones, shall be cast into those places most remote from God, so that they may exact vengeance upon them. Then they shall wail with weeping and cries and lamentation and howling, nor will they hear them or have mercy on them,

for mercy has already departed from them for eternity. For the unmerciful themselves were such in their own lives: not feeding the hungry, not giving the thirsty to drink, not welcoming the stranger, not clothing the naked, not visiting the infirm, not visiting those held in prison. Therefore, they have received a recompense without mercy. Moreover, they were laden with sins, and deceits, and disobedience toward their teachers and the fathers who instructed them; nor did they perform penance for even one day, nor did they choose for themselves a teacher who might pray for them, nor did they give thanks for the riches granted to them, and they cast from themselves the knowledge of the Lord here: wherefore He Himself will also be ignorant of them there, and will deliver them to those unmerciful ones, that they may take vengeance on them with that torture which has no end: like that servant who had no mercy on his fellow servant, by forgiving him a hundred denarii, which are few in comparison to the myriads that were forgiven him; and like the incapable, slothful servant who buried his master's money; and like him who was not found with a wedding garment; and like the servant who despised the commandment of his master, and eating and drinking with the drunkards, and not having mercy on his fellow servants. All of whom indeed were delivered to tortures and the unmerciful, because they were unmerciful, just as it is written, that judgment without mercy shall be upon him who has practiced no mercy.

^C Therefore, my most beloved, I, an unhappy man, because of my great love for you, plead with you enough and more than enough, that we may be vigilant while we are in this body, and that we may weep for ourselves and lament with our whole heart night and day, that we may be snatched from the bitter torture and from the weeping and wailing and sadness, which will not pass away; and let us beware of entering through the wide gate and the easy way which leads to perdition, and many are they who walk through it; but let us enter through the narrow gate and the sad and sorrowful way leading to life, and few there are who enter through it. But they who shall have entered through it, are true workers, who shall receive the reward of their labors with joy, and shall inherit the kingdom. Whoever, therefore, is prepared, my most beloved, to be present, let him not, I pray, be negligent, nor let the time pass by; and he will not be found who is willing to sell to the buyer. For thus it happened to those five foolish virgins, when they found not where to buy. Then they cried out, and wept saying: *Lord, open to us.* Who answering said to them: *Amen I say to you: I know you not.* Nor did that happen to them for any other reason, except because of sloth. For when the master of the house shall have risen, and shall have shut the door, it will profit nothing more, as it is written. But I shall bring to you a likeness of this matter. When Noah had entered the ark, he himself with his sons and the wives of his sons, and the rest who were with him, and had shut the door of the ark on account of the waters of the flood which were sent upon those who acted wickedly; Noah certainly did not open the door of the ark any more, nor did he allow his sons to see that terrible spectacle which was in the judgment of those impious ones; nor were those wicked men, after the door was closed, able to ascend with the just; but they were made with the goats who are on the left, nor could they approach those who are on the right; but they were perished by destruction through the waters of the flood on account of their sloth and disobedience. For indeed, during the span of those hundred years in which Noah built the ark, he was recalling them to a better life, nevertheless they neither obeyed him, nor listened, and therefore they were destroyed.

Now, my most beloved, and amiable to me, anxious for peace with all, I ask you through the grace of God, that you may obey me; then I also will obey you; and let us all obey the Lord saying through the tongue of the Prophet: *Who is the man that desireth life, and loveth to see good days? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Turn away from evil and do good; seek after peace and pursue it*: and the rest which follow these. And indeed these are my joys, and those of the brothers who are with me, that we should have news of your Christianity; and that the peace of the Lord may be with you and among you; and that you may build upon it night and day, that you may be one spirit in one will and in one faith and in one participation and at one table, so that peace may remain for you. From the time, however, that your letter reached me, until now I am sad in heart on account of the labor arisen among you because of the imprudence of those, who wish to segregate themselves and do their own will, while they are still in the midst. Hence, therefore, my most beloved, let not these things be among you, but accomplish the good of the house of peace—for it is indecorous to give one’s own good to another place, but be gathered into one place, and perfect it in peace, and concord, and humility, and fear of God, and prayers. For then the good of the house of God will be accomplished, and you will obtain it with joy and gladness. Then give to the infirm and the poor, that you may be rendered worthy of the second chosen joy, which is faith, and hope, and charity, and humility, and fear, and discretion, and religion, and peace, and contemplation, and love of the brothers. For whoever shall have these, he is clothed in the wedding garment, and walking in the precepts of the Spirit. Truly indeed I say to you, brothers, that for now the Lord has not granted me this faculty of doing this, which is to be separated from the brothers: for I fear to do that from myself alone, without the will of the Lord. Wherefore I ask you, that you remain in your humility and patience, that passions may pass away from you: for this is not the time to be seeking this thing. Whoever, however, makes progress, and will reach the point of obtaining this, I am certain that my Lord will reveal that to me, and will fulfill in him His own good will. If therefore you will remain in these, peace will be yours and for your places, and for all who shall come to them, and who shall pray in them in the name of the Lord. But hold this for certain, that whoever

when he walks according to the will of God, which is sweeter than honey, and filled with all joys; it will help him, and will strengthen him, and will reward his soul with marvelous works, and will prepare all paths for him to be pleasing before the Lord; nor will any of his enemies be able to withstand him then, because he walks in the will of the Lord.

But whoever walks in his own will, thinking it to be the will of the Lord, God will not bring him aid in any way, but will leave him to the demons, who will dwell in his heart night and day, and will not allow him to find any rest; for his heart will be darkened, and therefore he will see none of the light, and they will render him powerless in all things, both external and internal, because he lacks grace; and they will bring upon him many other things, indeed hard and laborious, which I am unable to recount. And many, truly, have been deceived for this reason on account of their own folly and imprudence, and they mocked the faithful who were walking rightly in the middle.

^A Thus it happened to our first father, or rather to the obedient Eve, because of her imprudence; for Eve was deceived by her own imprudence, captured by the desire for immortality and deification, when the devil hid himself under the guise of a serpent, and spoke with her as a friend, saying: "If you eat from this tree, you will be as gods, and you will not die."* Since she was indeed imprudent and devoid of discernment, as soon as she heard of divinity and immortality, she did not inquire about that which had been said to her, but casting away from herself the will of the Lord, she broke the commandment of God, and was seduced, and seduced Adam; and after that notable exaltation, they became in this unhappiness so unlike, because they had opposed the will of the Lord. Similarly, my beloved, it will truly happen to him who rejects from himself the will of the Lord, and does the will of his own heart: and there will be fulfilled concerning him the saying of Solomon in the Proverbs: "A way may seem right, whose end leads to the depths of hell."* I also make known to you that the devil introduces joy and gladness into these similar ones; though it is not so, but they are grief and sadness and weeping, because they are not from God; whereas the joy which is from God, and gladness, will be given to him alone who labors with all his strength, and compels and forces himself to sustain good deeds, and to cut off his own will, and to embrace the will of the Lord.

And because I have spoken of the will of God and of the will of men, I will make known to you other things: namely, that the will which works in the heart of man is of three kinds, which many, indeed, among the monks and virgins, do not at all discern, with the exception of a few who have already labored in great struggles, and have been perfected in discernment: these only ponder this: for it is written that solid food is for the strong.* The first kind is from the devil, the second from man, and the third from God. In the two ^B which are of the devil and of man, one does not rejoice in God, but only in one's own.

Now therefore, brothers most beloved to my heart, examine yourselves, and embrace the will of God, and obey your father; for I pray vehemently to God for you: nor should you leave your house under the pretense of a good deed which is not truly good, and transfer yourselves to another, but remain until I come to you with the help of the Lord, and I will show you what is useful; for if you do this, you will grieve my heart, and you yourselves will also be grieved. Indeed, unhappy wretch that I am, my beloved, I think I have in me the knowledge of the will of God, more than you do, and I recognize your direction, wherefore persist in the love of the brothers and your glory, and consider ^C the will of God. For this is no small thing, that a man should constantly consider the will of God in all things. Truly I say to you, unless a man abandons the entire will of his heart, and subjects himself in all things, and repels from himself all his wealth and possessions, and obeys the Lord, obeying his spiritual fathers; he will neither be able to consider the will of God, nor to do it, and he will be deprived of the final blessing. For when Abraham had blessed Isaac, he said to him: "May my God strengthen you, so that you may do his will." By the same reasoning, he who obeys his spiritual fathers will in all things do the will of God. Thus our father, the best Jacob, was blessed ^D by his father Isaac because of the excessive obedience he rendered to his parents; and virtues dwelt in him because he obeyed both, and did the will of both, just as is mentioned of him in the Law. But when his mother had spoken to him before the passing of his father, and when he had received the blessing from him, that he should go into Mesopotamia and be with his father’s kinsman Laban (because his brother Esau wanted to kill him), although he himself did not wish to go there by leaving his parents, for he loved them, and they loved him; nevertheless he obeyed, and complied, and went to that distant place, and to a land which he did not know, and he did not oppose the will of his mother, but dismissed his own desire and will, so that he might do it with an even mind, and he strove with all this effort so that the blessing of his parents might be fulfilled upon him. For it is written that the blessing of fathers will confirm the houses of their children.* However, it was announced to me that some of you claim that Jacob had not fled by his own will, but by his own obedience; and therefore God helped him, and was ready for him in all things: but this is both hidden and manifest.

Now therefore, my beloved, may the memory of Jacob and of those like him be among you, and in yourselves without ceasing: and exterminate from your minds that which I have heard about you. For God will not forget your labors, nor your reward. For our Lord, to whom be glory, will by no means...

than he said, that the reward would be here, but trials and anguishes and labors and sorrows; but there is the reward. For this life is indeed a way of labors and temptations. If, however, you endure, and obey, and comply with your Fathers, the Lord will render you an excellent reward; and this is the labor which is remembered before the Lord. I, however, your unhappy Father, declare to you, my most beloved, how I labored in the mountains and in the solitudes, and I prayed by night and by day that the Lord might reveal to me His will; and He did not reveal anything to me until I obeyed my Fathers ^A in all things, and attained from them the knowledge of this. For he who obeys his Fathers, obeys the Lord; but he who obeys the Lord, he himself obeys his own Fathers; but he who does not obey his own Fathers does not obey the Lord. My most beloved in the Lord, obey your Father in those things which he has written to you, that his benediction may dwell in you, and you may find rest, and grace, and strength, and glory, and may the Lord make your ways easy. And behold, I have now indicated to you ^B the twofold way of bodily and spiritual labor in this epistle, and the bodily and diabolical wrestlings, so that you may do and strive, and attain the final blessing, and the great grace may dwell in you. And may peace be to you all, and salvation from the Lord Jesus Christ be upon your humble spirits, and upon your thoughts, and upon your pure hearts; for His benediction dwells in every place in which there is humility. And to our Lord be praise, and glory, and honor from all rational beings, and to His Father, and to His holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.

Twenty Epistles from the sayings of our Father S. Anthony are completed, whose prayers may be with us. Amen.

FROM THE EPISTLE OF BISHOP AMMON

^C To the beloved son Theodorus, Anthony in the Lord, greeting. To the beloved son Theodorus, Anthony in Christ, greeting and joy. I knew indeed that the Lord God would do nothing unless He had inspired something of salutary doctrine therein to His servants the prophets; nor did I think that those things which God had long since indicated to me were to be manifested by me to you. But after it happened that I saw your brothers who were with Theophilus and Copres, I deemed that these things ought to be written to you; and that it should be signified how very many of those who adore Christ in truth, and after having duly received baptism fall into sins (which happens through almost the whole world), if they implore the mercy of the Lord and sincerely grieve for their transgressions, are mercifully received by God into grace, and the sins of men who act thus in all things are erased: which is kindly granted to all those whom I have already mentioned up to this present day, for which purpose this epistle is written to you. I would like you, therefore, to read it aloud to your brothers, that they too, having heard it, may rejoice. I desire that the brothers be greeted by me. The brothers who are with me greet you. I wish you to be well in the Lord.

THE REGULÆ OR PRECEPTS OF OUR MOST HOLY FATHER ANTHONY THE GREAT, ABBOT, TO HIS SPIRITUAL MONKS, HIS SONS.

I write down these Rules, as the Lord shall speak through my mouth, for those who wish to subject themselves to this heavy yoke of monasticism. These must therefore obey ^D these precepts, and he who shall break one of them shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven.

REGULÆ OR PRECEPTS OF OUR HOLY FATHER ANTHONY TO HIS OWN MONKS, REQUESTED BY THEM FROM HIM IN THE MONASTERY OF NACALON

IN THE PEACE OF THE LORD.

I will speak the Canons or Rules, as the Lord shall speak through my mouth, to those who wish to surrender themselves under this heavy yoke, to wit, monasticism. It is necessary, therefore, that they hear these precepts: But whoever shall break any of them, shall be called "vilis" [vile] in the kingdom of heaven.

Rules and Precepts for his own Monastic Sons

^A I. Before all things, pour forth prayer without ceasing, and always give thanks to God for all things that happen to you.

II. Rising in the morning each day, inquire about the sick who are among you.

III. Fast every day until the Ninth Hour, except on the Sabbath and the Lord's Day. When the Ninth Hour approaches, withdraw to your cell; and before you take food, finish your prayer; and after you have eaten, pray and read constantly.

IV. Beware of entering into conversations with a boy or an adolescent, or contracting intimacy; nor receive these as monks, lest they give place to the devil.

V. Do not sleep on the same mat with one younger than yourself.

VI. Observe the appointed hours of prayer, and omit none, lest you render an account for it.

VII. Do not force the sick too much to take food; but neither withhold it, lest his mind be disturbed and afflicted by sorrow.

VIII. If any brother comes to you after a time, receive him with joy, that he may render thanks to God and praise you.

IX. Do not associate with worldly men at all; but do not imitate the Pharisee, who did all things for show.

X. Do not permit a woman to approach you, nor allow her to enter your dwelling; for wrath walks after her.

XI. Do not visit your blood relatives, nor let yourself be seen by them, nor approach them.

XII. Do not keep more than you need, nor give away more than you are able; but what you can, give to the infirm of the monastery.

XIII. Perform your prayer at night, before you go to the church.

XIV. Do not eat with one who spends much on your behalf.

XV. If an offense has arisen because of some youth who has not yet put on the monastic habit, do not invest him, but cast him out of the monastery.

XVI. Do not speak with a boy ever; for he will be an occasion of stumbling to you. ^B

XVII. If necessity requires that you travel to the city, do not go alone.

XVIII. Do not sow land that is subject to taxes, and do not enter into partnerships with landlords.

XIX. Do not go near a place where wine is pressed.

XX. Do not eat meat at all.

XXI. Do not break your fast on the fourth and sixth days of the week, except on account of the most serious illness.

XXII. Do not murmur at the work of your hands.

XXIII. Do not cast reproaches on anyone for any reason whatsoever.

XXIV. If you visit any brother, do not linger long in his cell.

From the Code of Regulations of Benedict of Aniane, Abbot

I. Before all things pray without ceasing, and give thanks to God for all things that happen to you.

II. But when you have risen in the morning each day, inquire about the sick who are with you. And fast until the Ninth Hour each day, except on the Sabbath and the Lord's Day; but when the Ninth comes, do not go to the cell of any of the brothers. And when you sit down to eat, pray first, then eat. Pray and read perpetually.

III. Do not speak with a youth, nor with a boy, and do not converse with him at all; nor bind that monk to you, nor take him as a son before he assumes the habit, lest he reconcile the enemy, the devil; nor sleep on the same mat with one younger than you. ^C

IV. Observe also the hours of prayer, and do not omit any, lest you render an account for it.

V. Do not force the sick to eat; nor withhold food from him, lest you disturb the soul of the afflicted one.

VI. If any brother comes to you after an interval of time, rejoice over him; for he will give thanks to God and to you. Do not associate with seculars in any way: nor show yourself off, like that Pharisee who did all his actions for show.

VII. Do not allow a woman to approach you, nor permit her to enter your dwelling; for wrath walks after her. Nor return to visit your carnal relatives, nor offer your face to be seen by them, nor approach them.

VIII. Nor keep for yourself more than you need; nor give away more than you are able, but dispense alms to the infirm of the monastery.

IX. Perform your prayer at night, before you go to the church.

X. Do not eat with anyone who spends on your behalf.

XI. If an offense has arisen regarding some youth who has not yet put on the habit, do not invest him: and cast him out of the monastery, and do not speak with the boy at all, lest he become an occasion of stumbling to you. ^D

XII. If necessity compels you to go to the city, do not travel there alone.

XIII. Do not sow land subject to taxes, nor enter into partnership and contract with the powerful.

XIV. Do not linger in a place where wine is pressed; do not eat meat at all.

XV. Do not break the fast on the fourth and sixth days of the week, except on account of a grave illness.

XVI. Do not murmur at the work of your hands: nor reproach anyone for any reason.

XVII. If you go to any brother, do not linger long in his dwelling.

^A XXV. Beware of speaking at all in the church. XXVI. Do not sit in the chambers of the monastery. XXVII. Do not swear at all, neither to what is true nor to what is doubtful. XXVIII. Do not frequent the church to which a multitude of men gathers. XXIX. Do not bury your dead in the church. XXX. Do not hasten to banquets and feasts. XXXI. Learn good habits from your elders daily. XXXII. Do not undertake any work, whatsoever it may be, without consulting the Father of the monastery. XXXIII. If you go to fetch water or perform any journey, read and meditate as much as you can. XXXIV. Do not make a show of the alms you bestow. XXXV. If you are ever in a place where agapes are held, eat and give thanks to God. XXXVI. Grieve night and day for your sins. XXXVII. Be bound and enclosed night and day in your cowl, your tunic, and your entire habit. XXXVIII. Kindle your lamp with the oil of your eyes, that is, with tears. XXXIX. ^B If you devote yourself to religion, do not boast. XL. Do not reject one who seeks the faith of Christ. XLI. Do not reveal your thoughts to everyone, but only to those who can save your soul. XLII. When you go to the harvest, do not delay, but hasten your return to the monastery. XLIII. Do not put on the habit in which you might boast. XLIV. Do not raise your voice, except at the time of the canonical prayers. XLV. Pray in your cell before you set out for the church. XLVI. Mortify your soul daily. XLVII. Do not reproach anyone for their infirmities. XLVIII. Neither boast nor laugh at all. XLIX. Be sad continually for your sins, just as if you always had a dead person in your house. ^C L. Endeavor as much as you can that your Father who is in heaven may be glorified. LI. Chasten your sons and do not spare them, for their condemnation will be required of you. LII. Do not eat to satiety. LIII. Sleep little and with measure, so that the angels may visit you. LIV. When you pray and remember God, consider your habit in which you are clothed as wings with which you may cross the sea of fire. LV. Go to the sick, and fill their vessels with water. LVI. Avoid the contentions of the tongue.

^A XVIII. Do not speak in church; nor sit in the chambers of the monastery. XIX. Do not swear at all, neither to truth nor to doubt. XX. Do not seek the church to which men gather. Distribute alms as much as you can. Do not bury a dead person in the church. XXI. Do not hold feasts; nor approach a symposium if invited. XXII. Learn discipline daily from the elders; nor undertake any work unless you have consulted the Father of the monastery. XXIII. When you go to draw water, read as much as you can while you are performing the journey. ^B XXIV. If you distribute alms, do not make a show of it. If you are in any place where alms are being distributed, eat and give thanks to God. XXV. Be sorrowful night and day for your sin. Be bound in your cowl and your tunic by night and by day. Kindle your lamp with the oil of your eyes, that is, with tears. If you perform acts of piety, do not boast. Do not turn away anyone who seeks Christ. Do not disclose your thoughts to all men, but only to those who can save your soul. XXVI. If you go to the harvest, do not linger, but return quickly to the monastery. XXVII. Do not wear garments by which you might be extolled. Do not show off your voice, except in the prescribed prayer. Pray in your house before you come to the church. XXVIII. Mortify yourself daily. XXIX. Do not reproach anyone for the cause of the pains and afflictions which he suffers. XXX. Do not boast, nor laugh at all. Endeavor to mourn for your sin as he mourns who has someone dead. Do as much as you can so that ^D your Father who is in heaven may be glorified. XXXI. Correct your son, and do not spare him, for his condemnation is required of you. XXXII. Do not eat to satiety; nor sleep, except little and with moderation; and let the angels come to you. XXXIII. When you pray and are mindful of God, make it so that your garments are wings, and you will fly over the sea of fire. XXXIV. Visit the sick and infirm, and fill their measures or vessels with water. XXXV. Do not fight with your tongue. Conduct yourself so that you may benefit

all. And may the Lord Jesus Christ bring us aid to labor according to His own good pleasure: to whom be glory with His Father, and His Holy Spirit, unto eternity. Amen.

What follows is found in another, separate manuscript.

XXXVI. Compel yourself in the work of your hands, and the fear of the Lord shall dwell within you.

XXXVII. If you see any brother committing a sin ^A not unto death, do not hold him in contempt, nor despise him, nor condemn him; for you will fall into the hand of your enemies.

XXXVIII. Take heed that your intellect is not seduced by calling to mind your former sins, lest they be renewed in you.

XXXIX. Love humility, which shall protect you from sin. Do not be obstinate in establishing your own word, lest evil overtake you. Do not consider yourself wise; and you shall glory, and you will fall into the hand of your enemies. Let your tongue grow accustomed to saying: Forgive me, and you shall attain humility.

XL. When you are sitting in your cell, be solicitous perpetually regarding these three things: namely, regarding the work of your hands, regarding the meditation of your psalms, and regarding your prayer.

XLI. Think within yourself and say: Truly I shall not remain in this world except for this present day; and you shall not sin against God.

XLII. Do not be a glutton for food, lest your former sins be revived in you.

XLIII. Do not be weary of labor; and rest shall quickly come to you from God. Just as the ruined walls outside a city become a place of stench for ^B all, so the soul of the lazy man who has taken up the monastic life becomes a dwelling place for passions and stenches.

XLIV. Compel yourself to pray perpetually with tears, that perhaps God may have mercy on you and divest you of the old man.

XLV. Persevere in these things which I shall mention: namely, in labor, poverty, pilgrimage, afflictions, and quietude; and they will bring you humility: for humility truly dismisses all sins. Humility, however, is for a man to consider himself a sinner, and that he performs nothing good before God; and that he should adhere to quietude, and not value himself as anything; and not be obstinate in establishing his own word; so that he might cut off his own concupiscence, and cast down his countenance, and set death before ^C his eyes, and keep himself from lying, and not speak idle words; nor answer a superior; and endure reproach, and have hatred for sloth, and be persistent in labors and sorrows.

XLVI. Take care, therefore, my brothers, to observe these precepts, lest your life be without fruit. ^D

[Col 1073]

...a word that you hear: "Forgive me, for humility destroys all the machinations of the enemy."

LXXIII. In your works, whatever they may be, do not exalt yourself.

LXXIV. Let your countenance be perpetually sad, unless brothers from outside come to you; for then put on a cheerful countenance, that the fear of God may dwell in you.

LXXV. If you make a journey with the brethren, distance yourself from them a little while, so that you may keep silence.

LXXVI. Walking, do not turn yourself to the right or to the left, but meditate on your psalms, and in your mind pray to God in whatever place you may be found; and do not act with familiarity with the inhabitants of that place.

LXXVII. In all your actions, use modesty.

LXXVIII. Do not immediately extend your hands to the things that are set before you.

LXXIX. If you are young, do not extend your hand first, nor act immodestly, nor thrust a morsel into another’s mouth.

LXXX. If you sleep anywhere, beware lest you cover yourself with the same cloak with another; and before going to sleep, pour forth many prayers. And may our Lord Jesus Christ bring us help to work according to His good pleasure. Amen.

The end of the Rules of Saint Anthony the Abbot.

[Col 1074]

^A ...precepts, so that your life may not be without fruit. And be always solicitous regarding every word that you hear, so that you may say: "Forgive me, for humility puts to flight all the business of the enemy." Do not reckon yourself to be anything because of your works.

XLVII. Let your countenance be sad, unless outside brothers have come to you; then rejoice with them, that the fear of the Lord may dwell in you. If you make a journey with the brethren, withdraw from them a little while, that you may be in silence; and while you proceed along the way, do not turn to the left or to the right; but meditate on your psalms, and pray in your mind to God in whatever place you enter, and do not act with overconfidence with the inhabitants of that place.

XLVIII. In all your affairs be modest; and to those things which are set before you, extend your hand slowly; but if you are young, do not extend your hands first to the food, nor thrust any food into the mouth of another. And if you have lain down in any place, do not cover yourself with one and the same blanket together with another, and pray much before you lie down. And may our Lord Jesus Christ grant us help to work according to His own good pleasure. Amen.

The end of the Rule of Saint Anthony the Abbot.

THE SPIRITUAL DOCUMENTS OF SAINT ANTHONY THE GREAT, ABBOT, ANNEXED TO THE RULES, TO HIS OWN SONS, THE MONKS.

I. Before all things, my son, do not reckon yourself to be anything; and this breeds humility in you: for humility breeds doctrine; doctrine breeds faith; faith breeds hope; hope breeds charity; charity breeds obedience; and obedience breeds constancy without agitation. My son, put off the evil, and put on meekness; cast away the wicked eye, and take the simple one for yourself. Do not imitate one who is weaker than yourself, but one who is more elect. Do not fear the reproaches of men. Beware of becoming known in any of your works. Hold in hatred all things in which there is detriment to your soul. Do not abandon the will of God in order to do the will of men. Do not murmur, nor provoke anyone with injuries. ^C Do not envy him who prospers unjustly, but make yourself inferior to all men, that God Himself may be with you. From the good works which you do, do not let it weary you. Whatever you wish to do, perform it patiently: for if you endure patiently, God will help you in all things that you do, and that are to happen to you. Do not retreat from the way of your solitude. In all things of this world, hold idle speech in hatred. Be solicitous about acquiring virtues for yourself, that you may not contract negligence. But you, my son, if you do these things, shall obtain the inheritance which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man. Reckon one who is inferior to you in virtues to be elect, and equal to you in those very virtues; and reckon one who is equal to you in virtues to be elect, and more excellent in increase. My son, do not let the thoughts that beset you in your cell weary you; and know that the Lord will not consign any of your labors to oblivion, from which growth will come to you, and help from God ^D will...

^A flow. My son, let those who have loved the Lord with all their hearts and are constantly devoted to good works be an image and example for you; nor should you be ashamed to seek your way of life from them, since they are perfect in virtues. Do not imitate those who devote their efforts to the rest of this world, since such will never progress; but emulate those who wandered in the mountains and in the deserts 11 for God’s sake, that power from on high may come to you. Be of good courage in all things that you do according to the will of the Lord. Do not retreat from any of these precepts; and the Lord Jesus Christ will grant you rest and will perfect in peace whatever works you have undertaken, for our perfect fathers, and whoever has imitated them, are perfect because of these. My son, do not multiply words, for the Spirit of God will be withdrawn from you. Study to do no man evil, nor condemn anyone.

II. My son, do not walk with the proud, but walk with the humble. My son, do not be a hypocrite or a dissembler, much less a liar. My son, do not speak ^B with anger, but let your words be with knowledge and wisdom: your silence should be so likewise, for the words of our most wise Fathers were full of wisdom and prudence, as was their silence itself. My son, do not justify yourself before men; but be wise, meek, long-suffering, patient, diligent, and a lover of men within yourself. Grieve with your brother, and be a good participant with him. My son, be humble for all the days of your life, and attach yourself to the best of men. Do not inquire about evil things, but keep your way far from them. Let your words be with sweetness, without harm, since both glory and contempt come from words. Love mercy. Put on faith. My son, do not allow your heart to be so wicked that it even thinks of evil; but strive to return good for that, and seek goodness and peace, and emulate every best work. Do not raise your voice, my son. When you go to anyone, let the fear of the Lord be in your heart, and guard your mouth, that you may return to your place in peace. Do not multiply words before your superior or elder. My son, love your spiritual fathers ^C more than you love your carnal parents, since they are solicitous for you for God’s sake. My son, if you sit in the midst of the brethren, do not speak too much; and if you ask anything of them, say it briefly and with humility. My son, if you have been insulted, do not hate the one who inflicted it, but say: "I am indeed worthy to be afflicted with an insult by all the brethren." If any of the brethren comes to you for any reason, submit yourself in all things, and yield to him for God’s sake, and beware lest you be carried away by pride. If, however, your Father appoints you to serve the sick, serve with all your heart, that you may receive a double reward from God, namely for the obedience and the service you have performed. If anyone corrects you, if you are innocent of any cause of sin, humble yourself, that you may obtain a crown. Do not lend your ears to hear ^D evil; but be a lover of men, and you shall live. Do not return evil for evil, just as you should not return injury for injury, because it is written: "Unless you humble yourself, I myself will humble you," says the Lord. My son, do not exalt yourself with pride, nor boast, nor shout, nor speak too loudly and too quickly; for it is written: "He who multiplies words is not free from sin" 12. My son, do not hate any mortal, but love all as yourself, because it is written: "Love your neighbor as yourself" 13. My son, always be mindful of him who instructs you in good doctrine, and from him endeavor to learn the precepts that you may live; and you shall produce long life according to the will of the Lord, as it is written by the divine apostle Paul: "Meditate on these things, and occupy yourself with them, that your acceptance may be manifest to all" 14.

III. My son, poverty is nothing else than continence and being content; but pilgrimage and solitude mean that you withdraw yourself from the crowds; yet true pilgrimage for the sake of religion means for the religious man to reside in his cell. My son, appoint for yourself some small labor to be exercised in your cell, and let your heart be humble: but let your mouth always speak the truth. My son, love reproaches more than honors, love the labors of the body more than rest, love the loss of worldly things more than gain. O beloved and faithful one, while you are subject to obedience, attend to and understand what is told you, and do it diligently according to its requirement. When you meet with the faithful who are like you, choose rather to listen and obey, and to understand whatever is said to you; and this is far better than speaking. A man who is a lover of allurements is neither good nor fit for any work. If you are free from the stain of sin, speak in the name of the Lord, and instruct those for whose sake the name of the Lord is blasphemed; and since they are like the dead and cut off from the Lord, take care that they may depart from their works, and attain glory and live. My son, it is a great glory to devote yourself to silence, and to imitate our Lord, because of whom Herod was awestruck. My son, whatever you wish to undertake; beware lest you do that in which you do not acknowledge God. My son, let your soul be with the Lord at all times; but let your body on earth be like an image or a statue. My son, there is no greater impiety than to bring sorrow to anyone, and to exalt oneself above another. My son, let your tongue follow your intellect, since words that lack intelligence are thorns and bristles. My son, do not propose or teach anything to anyone until you yourself have fulfilled it in deed. Ponder the works of God, and do not let it be irksome to you to pray to Him, because the prayer of a lazy man is idle words. Avoid and depart from men who are devoid of mind and counsel. If you have performed any works of virtue, do not boast of yourself, and say: "I have labored and done such things"; for if you boast that you have done them, you will be by no means wise. It is also the greatest disgrace of all, to command others what you yourself have not performed; no account

^A of your silence, seal your lips; nor should you wonder if someone speaks evil of you, for this is the work of the worst enemies, to place an obstacle before a man, lest he grasp knowledge. My son, be far from hatred, and defend yourself from concupiscence, and at the same time from obscene thoughts. The Apostle John, who became the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, comprehended human pleasures in that most wise assertion: "For all that is in the world is the concupiscence of the flesh, or the concupiscence of the eyes, or the pride of life." 15 The concupiscence of the flesh is the satiety of the belly from an abundance of various foods, which is necessarily followed by the uncleanliness of luxury. The concupiscence of the eyes, however, consists of material works, in the performance of which the eye is either carried away, or sends forth unclean images to the heart. Moreover, the pride of the world is that glory which settles in our minds because of fleeting and vain dignities. My son, sow justice, so that you may reap the fruits of life. Bring, my son, the light of knowledge, so that you may attain to the generation of the just, while it is time to acquire the knowledge of the Lord.

VI. My son, take care that the thought of vainglory does not seduce you while it suggests to you that you might find rest in solitude. The perfection of your struggle, indeed, is obedience; for it is good for a man to bear the yoke of the Lord from his youth, and to serve and obey; offering his cheek to the smiter, let him rejoice in reproaches, and be content with the frugality of his food: wherefore our Lord Jesus Christ will never abandon him, because He is good and a helper of souls, who endure for His sake and seek Him; for He will strengthen them ^C until they are established in rest. Do you, therefore, my son, act in such a way that you can dwell in tranquility alone, and be silent in your quiet. My son, rejoice in the tribulations that befall you; for these are followed by fruits. Do not take pleasure in the delights of the world, my son; for you will die a most wretched death. My son, keep watch continually so that you are not seduced, and do not become slothful and negligent and despised in the future age; for it is written: Woe to the negligent, because their end has drawn near, and there is no helper for them, nor hope of salvation. My son, die every single day, so that you may live, because whoever fears the Lord will live forever. My son, do not forget those labors you endured for the sake of virtue, lest you become slothful, and negligent, and err at the final hour; but love the Lord to the end, and you will obtain mercy. My son, do not forsake God for the sake of fleeting things; but remember what you promised in the time of the fervor of your zeal. Do not forget the seal, namely your habit, by which you were purified before; but be mindful of the tears of your penitence which were shed for you, and without delay withdraw from hidden thoughts, lest you be openly seduced. My son, wash your bed every single night, and bedew your couch with your tears; and humble yourself before Christ the Lord, so that He may delete your sins.

V. My son, do not quickly rebuke anyone; for in this is your fall; but remember beforehand your departure from this body, and do not forget the memory of eternal damnation; for if you do this, you will never sin for eternity. Our spiritual fathers, however, assert that solitude is a more suitable place for the meditation of the memory of death, and a refuge from bodily things. My son, use more humble foods. If you should be struck by anger, immediately remove it far from you, so that you may rejoice until the end; and earnestly beseech the young and the old alike, that they do not permit anger to dominate them. My son, fortitude is nothing other than to persist in truth and to resist enemies: for when you do not yield to them, they will depart and will not be found at all. My son, a wise man shows wisdom in his countenance: therefore be wise, and toward those who speak evil against you, ^D

and may He renew you again, and bring help to accomplish good works, and finally bestow upon you His eternal kingdom as an inheritance; to whom is due praise, honor, glory, sanctification, and adoration, together with the optimal Father and the Holy Spirit, from eternity, now and always, and unto ages of ages. Amen. Praise to God always.

OF THE SAME OUR HOLY FATHER, ST. ANTHONY THE GREAT, ABBOT: ADMONITIONS AND VARIOUS TEACHINGS TO HIS MONK SONS

If any brother should come to you and reveal his thoughts to you, beware of telling them to anyone else; but pray for yourself and for him, so that you both may be set free. If any brother asks you prostrate to bring him aid, labor with him throughout that entire day. Strive entirely to gain the blessing of the elders of the monastery. Correct, and do not spare; but do so with the fear of God: and do not show partiality to anyone, whoever he may be, and excommunicate ^B them with words of truth. Guard your garments, lest you go naked on the day of judgment. As for the fathers of the monastery who beget you in the spirit, see to it that they admire your glory in the midst of the saints. Eat your bread with quiet, tranquility, and temperance: but take care that your sitting be modest. Do not follow all your thoughts. Stand in the presence of the Lord with uprightness. When the bell rings, do not be slothful to go immediately to church. When you travel abroad, strive to return to your monastery shortly, so that you may be able to be free for your prayers. Let the affairs of the church be committed to a faithful man, who fears God. If you wish to add anything to these good works, do so, and give perpetual thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom is glory forever. Amen.

Of the same, on submission and piety

The fear of God ought always to be before our eyes; and likewise the memory of death, and hatred of the world, and we should decline everything that brings us rest of the flesh; but let us count this life as of little value, that we may live in God, who will inquire of us on the day of judgment whether we were hungry, thirsty, labored in nakedness, were saddened, groaned from the depth ^C of our heart, and whether we examined ourselves, whether we were worthy of God. Let us therefore apply ourselves to sorrow and sadness, that we may find God, and let us despise the flesh in order to save our souls.

Of the same. He who dwells in solitude attains rest from three struggles: namely, from hearing, from disputes, and from the sight of those things which inflict wounds upon our heart.

Of the same. Whoever wishes to be saved, let him not enter his bodily home, nor that in which he ^D inhabited the city; nor should you visit parents or carnal relatives; for from these the corruption of the soul arises, and the fruits of life are lost. If you have delivered yourself to God, keep all His commandments; and what is commanded to you, do it and do not cast it aside, because if you cast it aside, by no means are your former sins forgiven you; but if you have performed it, be certain that all your former sins have already been forgiven. Do not eat with a woman, nor contract intimacy with a boy at all. Do not sleep together on the same mat, unless the greatest necessity compels it; and let him who sleeps with you be either your father or your brother; and then do so with great fear. When you sleep, do not put your hand within yourself, lest you sin unknowingly. While healthy, do not loosen your belt. Do not grasp the hand of your neighbor, nor touch his cheeks, whether he be minor or major to you. Do not add a fourth cup of wine to three, unless on account of some great sickness. Do not violate a divine precept for the sake of human friendship. Do not return to the city in which you once sinned against God. Do not remit your religious observance, lest it turn into a stumbling block and a snare for you. Devote your study to the reading of the Scriptures, which indeed will snatch you from impurity. Sitting in your cell, apply yourself to the labors of your hands; yet do not let the name of the Lord Jesus depart from you, but meditate perpetually upon it in your mind, in your heart, praise with your tongue, and say: "My Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me." Likewise: "Lord Jesus Christ, send me your help." And also: "I praise you, my Lord Jesus Christ." Choose labor for yourself; and it, with fasting, prayer, and vigils, will set you free from all impurities, because the labor of the body brings about purity of heart; but purity of heart causes the soul to bear fruit. Do not account yourself as anything at all, but be free for sorrow for your sin. Beware of becoming angry at anyone, and forgive everyone. Begone with lying, which drives the fear of God far from you. Remove evil thoughts far from you, and deliver yourself to God, who will protect you with His right hand. Do not reveal your thoughts to everyone, lest you be an occasion of stumbling to your brother. Be devoted to the labor of your hands; the fear of God will come upon you. Love humility; it will protect all your sins. Do not be disobedient, because you will be an instrument and a ves-

-^Asel of all evils and iniquities. Keep this fixed in your heart, that you may obey your Father, and the fear of God will dwell in you. Do not reproach your brother, even if you see him guilty of all the commandments, lest you yourself fall into the hands of your enemies. Do not turn over in your mind the sins you once committed, lest they be renewed in you; be certain that they were forgiven when you gave yourself to God and to penance, and do not hesitate concerning this. Do not think yourself learned or wise; your labor will vanish, and your ship would have sailed in vain. Accustom your tongue to say in all things, always and at every moment, to all your brothers and to God the Most High Himself: Forgive me; for if you always say, Forgive me, you will attain humility. ^B Do not condemn anyone, lest the fear of God depart from you, and you fall into the hands of your enemies. Do not remember your pleasures and games in which you indulged during a time of sloth, nor compose words about them, nor say: I did this, or I neglected that; for they will be a stumbling block to you. While you sit in your cell, apply yourself to these things: to the reading of the Scriptures, to prayers to God, and to the work of your hands. Do not be mindful of the passions to which you succumbed in the world, nor let yourself be ensnared again by their desire, lest they be a stumbling block to your heart. Spend your time continuously and diligently on penance, and do not be sluggish for even one moment. Humbly and with tears ask your Father to instruct you in things you do not know, and do not be ashamed. Establish with yourself every day that this day alone remains for you in this world, and you will keep yourself from sins. Know that humility is nothing other than to consider all men better than yourself, and firmly to hold in your heart that you are more subject to sins; and keep your head bowed, and let your tongue be ready to say to one who wrongs you: My Lord, forgive me; and let your meditation be death continually. Take care not to speak of worldly things at all. Do not fulfill your lusts and desires. Hate your body and its allurements, because they are full of evils. Let your desires and cravings weary no one, oppress no one; and if someone should falsely accuse you, do not grow angry. Cast pride far away, and consider your neighbor and all men better than yourself. Do not conceal the sin you have committed from your spiritual father. Put off from yourself a spirit incapable of answering, ^C nor think evil in your heart against him who provokes you to anger, and do not be quick to anger yourself. Do not utter empty words, nor lend your ears to those who utter them, lest you drink them into your soul. Let your words be a memory of the benefits of the most high God; and keep seeking propitiation from Him. Flee far from the desire for possessions and disobedience; but much more from gluttony, lest you be ensnared by your lusts: because these drive the fear of God from the heart and modesty from the countenance; they subject one who is studious of them to base and sordid desires, and alienate the mind from God.

Do not boast, nor turn over in your heart, or vaunt with your words, ^D that you brought benefit or molestation; for all these things bear the appearance of vain glory, and he who is infected with them becomes a dwelling place for demons and unclean spirits. Appoint one hour in the day for the refreshment and sustenance of your body, not indeed for gratification; and subdue it, and weary it with much labor. Often bend your knees, and do not be lazy in this, lest you die the worst of deaths. So weaken your body that it may be like the body of one lying in bed on account of sickness. Let your thoughts be always occupied with divine commandments, and strive to fulfill them with all your strength, and neglect none of them, lest your soul become a dwelling for all impurities. Do not reproach any mortal, lest God despise your prayers. Beware most of all of play and jesting. If you give continuous and diligent work to the reading of the Scriptures and fulfill the commandments, the mercy of God will be at hand for you. A monk sitting in his cell with his mouth obstructed, and unmindful of God, is like a ruined house situated outside the city, always full of all filth, because whoever wants to clear the filth of his house carries it out there. After you have prayed with the brothers, always complete your prayers in your cell, and do not be sluggish in this. Incumbently apply yourself to tears; for God will have pity on you, and will lift all your sorrows. Hate all worldly things, and remove them from you; and be certain that they truly drive us very far from God. Take care not to be of a faint heart. Love labors, and submit yourself to all, close your mouth, and you will attain humility; for true humility remits all the sins of a man. Whoever does not keep these things will provoke God to anger. I, Anthony, tell you the truth; therefore, offer now your ears to my words, and store them in your heart, and know that in these sermons and precepts I am handing you over to the Creator; if you observe these, you will rejoice with all the angels, and you will bring sorrow to all evil spirits. Therefore, if you apply yourself to these, and walk in them, God will be with you, and His angels will walk with you, and your soul will be filled with the fragrances of the saints, and your face will shine with the light of the blessed, and you will be a sacrifice to God like all the saints; and you will meet the Lord with joy and gladness, and you will hear that voice saying: Well done, good and faithful servant; I have found you faithful in a little; I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your Lord: to whom be glory forever. Amen.

Of the same.

"Obey one another in the charity of Christ." But if any command should be given to us that is contrary to divine mandates, then we must say to him who commands: "Is it not more agreeable to us to obey God rather than men?" Let us be mindful of the word of the Lord: "My sheep will not follow a stranger, but will flee from him, because they do not know his voice." Likewise, the divine Apostle Paul warns and says: "If we, or an angel, or anyone else should preach to you anything beyond what we have announced to you, let him be anathema, and do not receive him."

Great is the virtue of him who, as long as he lives, works and looks daily until his last breath toward the tempter that follows him. I prayed to God that He might show me the protection that surrounds and defends a monk, and I saw a monk surrounded by fiery lamps, and a multitude of angels ^B surrounding him with swords like the apple of the eye, and behold, a voice from heaven saying: "Do not grant him rest, as long as he lives uprightly in this world." When, therefore, I had seen such protection surrounding a monk, I groaned and said: "O Antony, all this is given to the monk, and yet the devil prevails against him, and he falls nonetheless!" And a voice came to me from the merciful Lord saying: "The devil can cast no one down; for he does not have such power, because I have come, I have assumed humanity, and I have crushed his power; but man himself is dissolved and falls by his own greed and lust." I said: "Is this virtue given to individual monks?" And He showed me many monks endowed with this virtue. Then I exclaimed and said: ^C "Blessed is the human race, and especially the army of monks, since they have a Lord so merciful and so much a lover of men. Therefore, let us be solicitous for our salvation, and let us not neglect it, so that we may merit the kingdom through the cooperating grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom is glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit unto ages of ages. Amen."

*Of the same, on the movements of the body: and his 1st epistle is held.*

You should know that there is a certain natural movement within the body burning in it, but it does not operate at all unless the consent of the soul is added; for to the body it is only ^D mingled and moves; but it neither harms nor compels. There is in it also another movement, which arises from rest and the softness of the body, and also from more delicate food and drink; whence the body is heated, the blood is inflamed, and it moves one to action. Hence the divine Apostle Paul says: "Do not be drunk with wine, in which there is debauchery." The Lord also commanded His disciples in the holy Gospel, saying: "Watch and pay attention, lest your hearts be changed because of gluttony and drunkenness." There is still another movement, which is excited in those struggling by envy and the craftiness of demons. Let us know, therefore, that there are three bodily heats: one natural, but two others accidental; one from the abundance of food and drink, another excited by demons. It will therefore be our task, if we wish, either to embrace or to repel them.

*Of the same.*

There will surely be a time when men will be insane; and if they see someone not insane, they will rise up against him, saying: "You are truly insane; because you are not like them."

*Of the same.*

The beginning of all virtues, and the beginning of wisdom, is the fear of the Lord.

Just as a light entering a dark house expels its darkness and illuminates it; so if the fear of the Lord enters the heart of man, it expels its darkness and imbues it with all virtues and wisdom.

Just as pride and elation of mind cast the devil down from the height to the depth; so humility and gentleness lift man up from the earth to heaven.

Just as, my sons, a fish brought out of the water dies; so the fear of the Lord dies from the heart of a monk if he wanders out of his cell.

The most excellent work of all that a man can perform is that he should confess his sins before God and his superiors, and rebuke himself, and be ready to meet every tribulation even unto the last breath.

*The end of the Admonitions and Sentences of Saint Antony.*

OF SAINT ANTONY THE GREAT, ABBOT: OF CERTAIN SENTENCES

*Exposition made by a certain elder after his death, at the request of the monks.*

*The questioning of the monks.*

How is that saying of the Abbot St. Antony to his disciple Paul the Simple to be understood, when he had departed from the world: "If you wish to be a monk, go to a monastery of many brothers, who may be able to sustain your infirmity"?

^A

EXPOSITION OF THE SENTENCES of ST. ANTHONY THE ABBOT

*Response of the Elder.* Love, which must be called the life of the soul, that is to say, of the intellect. If, therefore, a monk hesitates in cities, he dies through sight and conversation, by the deprivation of spiritual life, because he is led away from God and forgets Him, and casts out from his heart the love of Christ, which he had acquired for himself with many labors while he was enjoying quiet in his cell. Furthermore, the love of tribulation is relaxed in him, and he gives himself over to rest and to concupiscences; and the purity of his heart is disturbed by the confused movements of the images which come in and go out through the senses, which are sight, hearing, words, touch, taste, smell; from which he is perhaps led down to fornication and other passions, which are truly the death and destruction of a monk. Blessed Anthony therefore well says: "Just as fish die when drawn out onto dry land, so dies the monk who lives outside his cell in cities."

From this fact we learn that we ought to receive elderly, infirm, weak, blind, and paralyzed men, and to love them; for they have given themselves over to acquiring virtues with joy and good will, even if, on account of their infirmities, they cannot undergo labors. Hence, those directors and superiors of monasteries are worthy of no small reproach who do not receive the elderly and infirm, even if they are most distinguished in virtues, but do receive with a willing mind stronger youths for the sake of the administration of things to be done, for journeys to be made, for coming and going, even if they are bold and impudent. The blessed interpreter sharply reproaches these in the book *On the Perfection of Government*, saying: "They allow their disciples to be slothful in the works of virtue, and they press them exceedingly toward corporal and worldly works; but to those who have embraced a religious life in order to work at virtues, they concede no rest or leisure from worldly works, but continually urge, upbraid, mock, reproach, and rebuke them because they have not completed the work committed to them with great diligence, whether this happened because of weakness or sometimes because of carelessness, although they might have been anxious and diligent a thousand other times. On the contrary, they praise with great accolades those who give diligent labor to worldly affairs, even if they are most slothful in acquiring virtues. This, indeed, does not arise from virtue, but comes from worldly cares; and—what is worst of all—whether these men are slothful or diligent, they treat them as slaves." Abbot Bemen said, however: "If of three cenobites, one is quiet and excellent, another is infirm and gives thanks to God, and the third serves with good will, all three are in the same work." By this, that holy man wished to show that in a monastery, where many are gathered and are cenobites, there is need not only for those who are strong to carry out services, but also for infirm brothers, and elderly and weak ones, and brothers who observe perpetual silence; otherwise, all their labor is vain.

*Interrogation.* For what reason did Abbot Anthony say to his disciple Paul: "Go, sit in solitude, that you may learn the struggles of the demons"?

*Response.* Because the perfection of a monk is from spiritual government; but spiritual government is acquired through purity of heart; and purity of heart is from the government of the intellect; and the government of the intellect is prayer without ceasing. The struggle with demons, however, happens through thoughts and phantasms; and these are stirred up more sharply in solitude and quiet.

*Interrogation.* What is it that Abbot Anthony said: "Just as fish die when taken out of the water, so it happens to a monk also if he dwells long outside his cell? How does a monk die, like fish?"

*Response.* Because the life of the soul is the constant meditation of God ^B and of the intellect. Therefore, if a monk hesitates in cities, he dies through sight and conversation, by the deprivation of spiritual life, because he is led away from God and forgets Him, and casts out from his heart the love of Christ, which he had acquired for himself with many labors while he was enjoying quiet in his cell. Relaxed, moreover, is the love of tribulation in him, and he gives himself over to rest and to concupiscences; and the purity of the heart is disturbed by the confused movements of the images, which go out and enter through the senses, which are sight, hearing, words, touch, taste, smell; from which he is perhaps led down to fornication and other passions, which are truly the death and destruction of a monk.

*Interrogation.* St. Abbot Anthony said: "He who inhabits solitude is freed from three struggles: namely, those of words, sight, and hearing; and there remains for him only the struggle of the heart." Expound for us, we ask, these words of the blessed one.

*Response.* Not that the battle which takes place in quiet and solitude is lesser than the struggle which is committed with brothers while distracted in mind on account of sight, hearing, and words; but by these he shows that those who inhabit solitude lack the struggles of the senses, by which others are vexed beyond the struggles of the heart which the demons inflict upon them. For this reason the fathers betook themselves to quiet, lest to the struggle of the heart should be added the struggles of sight, of words, and of hearing. For just as those brothers fall immediately who go out and come in, if the battle of the senses of the body is added to the battle of the heart; so easily also those monks will fall who dwell in quiet and are vexed only by the struggle of the heart, if the struggle of the senses of the body is added to them. This, indeed, is sufficiently explored from the fact of those brothers to whom, while dwelling in quiet, women entered, and to the struggle of the heart was added the sight of the body and the appearance of the face; and at once they were overcome by the arduous struggle of the heart, and fell. More difficult, indeed, and more satisfying, are the arduous and vehement struggles of the senses of the soul against those who dwell in quiet, than the struggle of the senses of the body. This, indeed, is sufficiently known from the words of the blessed Evagrius; namely, that demons struggle by themselves and without an intermediary with those monks who dwell in solitude: but against those who are in congregations and give labor to perfecting virtues, the demons excite and incite loose brothers; than whom none is harder, more bitter, or more fraudulent. ^{C D}

*Interrogation.* What does it signify that St. Abbot Anthony says: "The cell of the monk is the furnace of Babylon, the place of the three children, among whom was the Son of God; and it is the pillar of fire, where God spoke with Moses"?

**Response.**

As fire has two properties, the one hot and burning, the other bright and joyful; so perseverance in the cell has two difficulties. The one distresses and vexes beginners in the quiet, through excessive numbness and struggle; the other truly perfects and gladdens, and makes them tranquil who are perfect in purity of heart, and have passed beyond the passions, and have arrived at luminous visions. Now, the reason for what he said regarding the three children who found the Son of God is this: Just as Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, when cast into the furnace of fire in Babylon, were not scorched nor consumed, but an angel was sent who loosened their bonds and delivered them from the fire (which angel Nabuchodonosor called the Son of God): so for brethren ^B who are beginners living in solitude, the battle of the passions that is brought against them by the devils is difficult at first; but the help of the grace of our Lord, the Son of God, does not desert them in the least, but He visits them secretly, assists them, and dwells with them according to His disposition and ordering; and when the passions and devils are overcome, He causes them to be worthy of the grace of perfect charity and the light of His glory.

**Question.**

What is that which Abbot Anthony says: "Evil is not to be returned for evil; and if a monk has not yet reached this stage, let him observe silence and quiet"? How does a man arrive from quiet at this stage?

**Response.**

^C ...and if we suffer with Him, we shall also be glorified with Him. Hence blessed Paul urges us, saying: "Let us look to Jesus," brethren, "the cross of our Lord." From this, see how much He endured for the sake of sinners, who had become adversaries to their own souls. Therefore, let it not burden you, nor let your souls be dissolved on account of the patience, anguish, injuries, opprobrium, and death which are endured for the sake of His love. Beg for mercy in your prayers for those who persecute you, just as the Lord begged for those who were crucifying Him, saying: "Father, forgive them." Likewise, blessed Stephen sought mercy from our Lord, and prayed for those who were stoning him, saying: "Lord, do not lay this sin to their charge." If, however, a monk has meditated upon these and similar things while in his cell, he will be strengthened, and will master all his passions in the Lord; and not only will he provoke no one with injury, nor be angry at anyone, nor return evil for evil; but he will greatly rejoice, and hold it a place of honor to be affected by opprobrium and injuries. To this virtue does the monk attain in his cell through quiet, patience, and the fulfillment of the observance of Christ’s precepts, which are fasting, prayer, meditation, and the remaining virtues that arise from quiet. Excellent, then, was what blessed Abbot Anthony said: If a monk cannot keep his tongue from injuries, murmuring, and gluttony, and cannot govern his heart against retaliation, he should at least study quiet and silence as much as he is able.

**Question.**

Certain brothers once went to Abbot Anthony and said to him: "Give us some precept, that we may observe it." And he said to them: "It is written in the Gospel: 'If anyone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other.'" They replied to him: "We cannot do this at all." Then the elder said to them: "If you cannot turn the other, endure the first." They said to him: "We cannot do this either." To whom he said: "If you cannot do this other thing, at least do not strike back those who struck you." They said: "We cannot do this either." Then the venerable elder said to his disciple: "Prepare something to eat for these brothers, for they are sick." What does this statement of the holy Father signify?

**Response.**

By "food" here he signifies the work of the brothers and the prayers and supplications of the elders; and it is the same as if he had said: Since you can do neither this nor that, you are in need of prayer. For just as the sick require special food while they are ailing, because of the weakness of their stomach, which is not fit to take any and all food: so for you, whose thought is so weak that you are not able to keep even a part of the precepts of our Lord, there is need of the health and healing of your souls—namely, the prayers of the Fathers who may obtain this for you through their intercessions.

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the reason was that the deficiency of the elder might appear, so that he might escape pride and be humbled.

^A Interrogation. Abbot Ammonius, a virgin, once went to Abbot Anthony and said to him: "I see that I have more works than you have; how then has your name been made more renowned among men than mine?" Anthony replied to him: "Because I love God more than you do." What is the purpose of this saying?

Responsio. Neither did Abbot Ammonius boast of his works, nor did Abbot Anthony boast of his love, but that was the purpose of their saying. Since those saints were the first founders of the monastic rule and the life of solitude, they intended to inquire of one another, and to open this lesson to all monks, namely, that the rule of the intellect is more excellent than the works of the body. For the rule of the intellect directs and raises the monk’s mind toward the highest things of the love of God; indeed, he is made worthy of the vision of His manifestation in light. ^B Indeed, bodily works defend the monk from the passions of the body, confirm him in virtues, bring strength to expel desires, and add purity to the body. But the striving of the intellect strengthens the mind against the devils and the thoughts suggested by them, and reconciles the purity of the heart, which acquires strength from love, and it is made worthy of spiritual rule. Nor is it necessary that every one endowed with virtues and who loves the Lord should have his fame spread among men; for Abbot Paul, the prince of hermits and the firstborn of monks (whom Abbot Anthony sometimes called the prophet Elijah, sometimes John the Baptist, sometimes the apostle Paul), as long as he lived, was not at all known to men. But, as I have already said, these two Fathers wished to inquire of one another, and to teach us, which rule is more excellent than the other: the bodily, or the spiritual, which is the internal and hidden struggle of the mind, and the unceasing prayer and meditation upon God; which when they have been completed, raise the intellect of the monk to spiritual rule, which is spiritual prayer, admiration of God, the vision of Him, and the manifestation of the glory of our Lord God, to whom be praise for ever and ever. Amen.

Interrogation. Saint Abbot Anthony said that God does not permit the devil to bring difficult wars upon this generation because it is weak.

Responsio. God indeed has pity on this generation: wherefore He does not permit it to be pressed by devils more than is necessary, because the fervor of charity and the love of good works is lacking in us; and therefore, the devils attack us more remissly because of our weakness and dissolution.

Interrogation. What is it that Abbot Anthony said: "Unless the miller were to veil the eyes of the beast of burden, it would turn back, and consume its own reward." ^C In like manner we also are veiled by divine dispensation, because at the beginning we work the good which we do not see, lest we consider ourselves blessed, and our works therefore perish; and therefore sometimes we fall into filthy thoughts alone, so that by seeing them we may rebuke ourselves. Yet these filthy thoughts are a veil for the little good that we do. For a man who rebukes himself does not lose his reward at all. Explain to us what profit there is in this saying?

Responsio. For that reason, not all saints merit seeing visions; nor do they see spiritually the good they do and the future promises, even if they are most abundant in works and virtues. And, indeed, it is not that God does not rejoice in their virtues, and is not pleased with their works: far be it from the Best One to diminish anything of the reward saved up for good deeds! But He does it, lest they be puffed up with pride, and their virtue perish completely, and they be deprived of the goods prepared and saved for them, and be made alien to the grace of God. Wherefore, even if they are workers and apply themselves to virtues, and God saves them; yet He permits sometimes that the demons should afflict them, and inject into them filthy thoughts, or fear, or scourges, so that they may recognize their own weakness, and always be on their guard; for as long as they are still alive in the world, their life is mutable. But just as the scope of their works is the meditation of the good, which is saved for them on account of the works themselves, and the constant meditation of work for the sake of acquiring the good: so the meditation of their own defects and impotence removes them from pride, and brings it about that they meditate upon every kind of humility, and take care lest they lose their virtue at that time when they are about to attain double joy from our Lord Jesus Christ in the kingdom of heaven without end.

Interrogation. Abbot Ellenius came from Syria to Abbot Anthony; and having seen him, Abbot Anthony said: "You are welcome, morning star, that rises at dawn." Abbot Ellenius replied to him: "Hail to you also, column of light, that has adorned the whole world." Who is this Ellenius? And why did the blessed one call him so?

Responsio. ^D This Ellenius was in the times of Saint Abbot Anthony, and his equal in rank and works. The Emperor Constantine the Victor lauded him, saying: "I give thanks to the Lord Christ, that there are three divine luminaries in my days, namely the blessed Abbot Anthony, Abbot Ellenius, and Abbot Euchinus." For these excelled all the monks who were living at that time and were known. But Abbot Anthony called him the morning star on account of his great rule, because just as the morning star excels the other stars in magnitude and light, so Abbot Ellenius excelled all the rest of the monks of his time with the light of grace. But wishing also to make known to Abbot Anthony that the magnitude of his rule and the glory of his light did not at all escape him, he called

that column of light which adorned the world.

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CERTAIN INTERROGATIONS

A certain brother asked Abbot Anthony, saying: What shall I do that I may find mercy before God? The holy old man answered him and said: What I tell you, observe diligently: Wherever you go, always place God before your eyes: whatever work you do, bring to yourself testimony from the Scriptures: and in whatever place you dwell, persevere, and do not quickly migrate from there. Keep these three things: you will find rest.

Abbot Bemo once asked Abbot Anthony what he should do to attain salvation; the blessed old man answered him: Do not trust in your own justice; truly repent of past sins; restrain your tongue, heart, and belly.

The brothers asked him also, saying: ^C By what work can a man please God? He answered: The law and work of charity is a good will, which pleases God most perfectly. He, however, fulfills this who praises God constantly with pure thoughts, which produce the memory of God and the memory of the goods which he has promised and fulfilled with us in deed, and how great these things are. For from this memory of these things there arises in man such a perpetual love according to that commandment: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength." It is also written: "As the deer pants for the fountains of water, so is the desire of my soul for you, O Lord." It is necessary, therefore, that we fulfill this work and this law for the Lord, so that it may be said of us

^A that the Apostle's word is fulfilled: "What shall separate me from the charity of Christ? Surely neither tribulations, nor sorrows, nor famine, nor nakedness, nor distress, nor sword, nor fire."

Being asked, "If any one should say: I will not accept anything from the brothers, nor will I give them anything; but my own is sufficient for me: how ought we to keep ourselves from a thing of this kind, our Father?" He replied: "My sons, he who is of such a character is hard of heart, and has put on a mind like a lion. For how does he who is of this sort wish to lead a life in this world without mercy? Therefore, he is to be considered a stranger to all good things."

Being asked, "How ought one to serve the brothers?" He replied: "Let the brothers who wish to serve the brothers serve as slaves to their own masters, and just as the Lord served Peter, the prince of the apostles; who, although he was the Lord and his creator, performed a lowly service for him. By this the Lord showed us that those who refuse to perform service for themselves, and allow no one to serve them—as Peter restrained himself—are no less inhuman than those who disdain to serve their brothers: for which reason the latter will not have a part with the Lord, as the Lord said to Peter, because the Lord himself taught us that we should serve one another mutually."

Being asked, "What is joy for the Lord's sake, and what must be done by us, by which we may attain life?" He replied: "Whatever commandment is completed by some act with joy for the glory of God, that is joy for the Lord's sake. For we ought to rejoice in executing and fulfilling his commandments; on the contrary, while we do not perform them, we ought to be saddened. Wherefore, let us strive to execute the commandments with the gladness of our hearts, that we may mutually congratulate one another in the Lord; but let us take great heed, lest while we rejoice, we be puffed up with pride, but let us put our trust in the Lord."

Being asked, "Are we ever to laugh?" He replied: "Our Lord condemns those who laugh when he says: 'You shall mourn and weep, but the world shall rejoice.' Therefore, a faithful monk is not to laugh. For it behooves us to weep over those who blaspheme against God, breaking his law, and over those who spend their whole life in committing sins; let us weep and wail, and perpetually entreat God, lest they persist in their sins, and death overtake them before repentance."

Being asked, "How ought one to serve the brothers?" [Note: The text repeats the query regarding laughter and then introduces the following:]

Some disciples once asked the holy abbot Anthony, when they saw that innumerable multitude of monks in the deserts, striving with great fervor in all virtues and works of holiness, and said to him: "Father, how long will this fervor and zeal for solitude, poverty, humility, charity, frugality, and all the rest of the virtues, to which this almost infinite multitude of monks devotes itself so diligently, remain?" To these, ^A with very deep sighs, the man of God replied: "The time will come at some point, my most beloved sons, when monks will abandon the solitudes, and in their place they will seek out more opulent cities, and there, instead of these desert caves and cells, they will vie in building proud edifices, emulating the palaces of kings; for poverty, the desire for accumulating riches will grow; humility will turn into the pride of the heart; many will be puffed up with knowledge, but will be bare of goods according to knowledge; charity will grow cold; in place of frugality love for the belly will grow; and for more delicate foods, no fewer of them will labor than worldly people themselves, from whom those religious ones will be distinguished in nothing but their habit and hood; and although they are in the midst of the world, they will not be ashamed to be called by the false name of monks and solitaries. They will further boast, saying: 'I am of Paul, and I of Apollo'; as if the whole reason for religiosity consisted in the authority of predecessors, and they boast of their own Fathers no differently than the Jews do of their father Abraham. Yet among these, some will be at that time far better and more perfect than us; because 'blessed is he who could transgress and has not transgressed; to do evil and did not do it,' than he who is drawn to good by the example of many good people. Hence Noah, Abraham, and Lot—who led an innocent life in the midst of the most wicked—are sufficiently celebrated for justice in the Scriptures."

Some Fathers once gathered to the holy abbot Anthony, to inquire as to what was the most absolute of all virtues, and which would preserve a monk from all the snares of the enemy; and each one of them said what seemed right to him. Wherefore, some praised fasting and vigils in prayer, as things which direct the thoughts, make the intellect subtle, and render the approach to God easy for man. Others commended poverty and the contempt of earthly things, from which the intellect is made more tranquil, purer, and freer from worldly cares, and thus the approach to God is rendered easier for him. Some wished the virtue of mercy to be the most preeminent of all virtues, because the Lord says to the merciful, as he promised: "Come, blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you before the foundation of the world." Others said other things; then the holy abbot Anthony said: "All the virtues which you have mentioned are most useful, and are altogether needed by those who seek God, and by those who burn with a vehement desire of approaching him. However, we have seen many who have torn apart their own bodies with excessive fasting, vigils, in retreating to solitudes, and likewise have labored most diligently in toils, poverty, and the contempt of worldly things; so that they did not even acquire for themselves the things that are necessary from day to day, but spent everything they possessed on the poor. Nevertheless, after all these things they turned aside to evil and fell; and being deprived of all those virtues, they became reprobate. But of this matter there was truly no other cause, except that they lacked the virtue of discretion and prudence, and did not use them. For these ^D [remainder of page text finished].

and that is what teaches and instructs a man to walk along the straight path and to turn away from the crooked. For if we walk along the royal road, we shall not be snatched away by the trap-setters on the right through excessive abstinence, nor by the trap-setters on the left through negligence, carelessness, and slackness. Discernment, indeed, is the eye of the soul and its lamp, just as "the lamp of the body is the eye: if therefore the eye is clear, the whole body will also be clear; but if it is dark, the whole body will also be dark," as the Lord said in the holy Gospel ^A. By discernment, a man indeed examines his own desires, words, and deeds, and withdraws from all those things that distance him from God. By discernment, one wards off and drives away each of the deceits of the enemy that attack, and distinguishes things good from things evil. This is clearly apparent from the Holy Scriptures. Saul, king of Israel, when he lacked this lamp, was darkened in his understanding, and did not perceive for that reason how he should observe what God had told him through the tongue of Samuel the prophet, and that it would have been preferable to provide this through the offering of sacrifices; hence he provoked God to anger, by that which he thought would please Him, and was therefore cast out of the kingdom. The Apostle calls discernment the mistress and guide of our life, according to that Scripture: "Where there is no governor, they fall like a leaf." The same Scripture also calls discernment counsel, and commands that nothing be done without counsel, so that it does not even permit us to drink the spiritual wine that gladdens the heart of man without counsel, when it says: "Do everything with counsel." And: "Drink wine with counsel." Also the Scripture tells us that, just as anyone who wishes may enter a city that is not at all fortified and plunder its treasures, so is the man who manages his own affairs without counsel. ^B

The end of the Interrogations to our most holy Father, the Abbot Anthony, and his Responses. May his prayers be with us.

RELATIONS FROM THE SAME CODEX CONCERNING THE BLESSED ABBOT ANTHONY

A certain senior, worn with age, once came riding on a donkey to the blessed Abbot Anthony in the desert. When the man of God, Anthony, saw him, he said: "A great burden is here, but whether he will be saved, I do not know." Then a certain event occurred, and the words of the Blessed one were fulfilled.

Brothers also came one time to the place of Abbot Anthony to consult him about certain phantoms which they were seeing, and to ask whether they were real or from the devil. They had an ass with them, which died on the way. When they arrived at the elder, he said to them: "How did your ass die on the way?" They said: "Whence did you know this, our Father?" He replied: "The devils revealed it to me." They said: "We also have come to ask about such things and to consult you; since we see phantoms, which sometimes seem to tell the truth, we are afraid lest we be deceived." Then ^C the holy elder exhorted them to be of calm mind, because they were from the devil; and he congratulated them. While he was conversing, he saw a hunter of wild beasts, and wishing to soothe the spirit of theirs and those brothers, he said to him: "O hunter, place an arrow in your bow and stretch it." He did so. The Blessed one said to him: "Stretch it even more strongly." He replied: "If I were to stretch it more than is proper, the bow will break." Then the elder said: "Such are the works of God, because if a man exceeds the limit and oppresses his brothers, they will the sooner be broken: it is necessary, therefore, to be indulgent with them at times."

A certain brother was once accused of fornication in his monastery, and having departed from there, he came to the place of Abbot Anthony. The brothers of that monastery followed him and came thither to ^D lead him away, but they were arguing with him bitterly and more than was fair, saying: "You have committed such and such things"; but he firmly denied that he had committed any of these. While this was happening, Abbot Bebnudus happened to be present, who told them a parable of this kind: "I saw a man in the mud on the seashore up to his knees; and certain ones coming to bring him aid, they plunged him in up to his shoulders." Hearing this, Abbot Anthony said: "This is a man powerful in healing and saving souls." Wherefore the brothers repented of the words they had spoken, and having asked forgiveness of the brother, they led him back to their own monastery.

A temptation once happened to a certain brother in a certain monastery, who was cast out from there for that reason. He went up the mountain to Abbot Anthony, and lived there for some time, after which the Blessed one sent him back to his monastery. They were unwilling to receive him, but cast him out again. He returned to Abbot Anthony and said to him: "They were unwilling to receive me, my Father." But he sent him back again, saying to the brothers: "A ship has suffered shipwreck and loss, and with great labor it barely escaped into port; now that it is saved, do you wish to sink it?" When they knew that he had been sent back by Abbot Anthony, they immediately received him with joy.

Three seniors were accustomed to set out once each year to the Blessed Abbot Anthony, and two of them would consult him regarding their thoughts and the salvation of their souls; but the third was silent perpetually, and inquired about nothing. After a long time, however, Abbot Anthony said to him: "For a long time now you have been coming to me, and you inquire of nothing."

^A He replied: "It is enough for me, Father, to see you."

Certain brothers journeying from the solitude of Scetis departed to visit the holy Abbot Anthony. Having boarded a ship, they found a certain old man among the Fathers whom they did not know, who was embarking upon the same journey. When the brothers had sat down in the ship, they began to speak of the deeds of the Fathers, and they conferred about the Scriptures and manual labor. That old man, however, listened to all these things in silence. Upon disembarking from the ship, they learned that the old man was traveling by the same route to the holy Abbot Anthony. When they had arrived there and the holy Anthony had looked upon them, he said to the brothers: "You have found an excellent companion in this old man." And he said to the old man: "You too, Father, have found excellent companions." To which the old man replied: "They are indeed excellent, but their house lacks a door; thus, whoever wishes to enter the stable and to untie and lead away the donkey will have no one to stop him." By these things the old man implied that they had spoken of all matters indiscriminately.

It is said that a certain brother, having despised the world and given away all that he possessed—retaining only a little to satisfy his own needs—to the poor, went to the holy Anthony. When the old man had looked upon him and recognized him, he said to him: "If you wish to become a monk, go to such-and-such a town, buy meat, cut it into pieces, and carry it exposed upon your arms and hands, and return here." That brother did as the old man had commanded; but look, dogs, birds, and wasps surround him and inflict wounds upon his hands. When he arrived at the old man and was asked if he had done what he had commanded him, he began to complain, showing him his wounds. To whom Abbot Anthony said: "He who despises the world, yet retains even a little, it happens thus to him; for he will be wounded by demons, and torn to pieces by the conflicts, he will succumb." ^B

It is told of the holy Abbot Anthony that, when he had once sat in the desert and had been affected by pusillanimity and weariness, and darkness had covered his thoughts, he began to pour out complaints to God, saying: "Lord, I wish to be saved, but my thoughts do not permit it. What therefore shall I do regarding my passions, and how shall I be saved?" And withdrawing a little, he sat in another place; and behold, he saw a certain man entirely occupied in the work of his own hands, who then would rise, leaving his work, to pray, and again would return to the work, namely, to weave palm leaves; then he would again rise and pray. But he who was doing these things was an angel of God sent to give courage to Anthony, and to stir him up to steadfastness. Then that angel said to him: "Do thus, Anthony, and you will be saved." Having heard these things, he was greatly rejoiced, and having imitated his work, he was saved.

It is said that a certain young monk performed a miracle on the road, while certain elders who were traveling saw it. The miracle was of this kind: when certain elders were sitting on the road because of the excessive weariness of the journey, that young man commanded the onagers (wild asses) which were grazing nearby that they should come and carry those elders to their places; which the onagers immediately performed. This the elders reported to the holy Abbot Anthony as they arrived there. He said to them: "Certainly, the comparison of this monk to me is like a ship laden with all kinds of goods; but whether it will arrive safely at the harbor, I do not know." However, after some time, it happened in the absence of the holy Father's disciples, behold, the old man began to weep, to tear out his hair, and to groan mightily. The disciples said to him: "What is the matter, Father?" The old man replied: "A great pillar of the Church has fallen at this hour, namely the young man whom the onagers obeyed: but hasten to him, and see what has happened to him." Having gone, the disciples found the monk sitting upon a mat, weeping and groaning for the sin which he had committed. When he saw the disciples of the master, he said to them: "Entreat the old man, I pray, that he may beseech God for ten days' space of life for me, that I may do penance." But he died before five days were out. ^C

It is told that Saint Anthony, being once struck by the depth of God’s judgments and His dispensations, prayed and said: "Lord, how is it that some men arrive at old age and decrepit years, while others die as infants and live but a short time? And how is it that some are poor, but others are rich? And how is it that tyrants and oppressors prosper and grow wealthy, but the just are troubled by tribulations and want?" When he had labored for a long time in pondering this, a voice came to him saying: "Anthony, look to yourself, and do not investigate the judgments of God."

It is said that Saint Abbot Anthony said: "I saw the Spirit of God descending upon three persons: upon Abbot Athanasius, and the patriarchate was given to him; upon Abbot Pachomius, and the primacy of the cenobites was given to him; upon Abbot Macarius, and the grace of healings was given to him." ^D

HOW A MONK OUGHT TO PSALMODIZE.

A certain junior monk, a disciple of Abbot Anthony, was sent at one time by his master to visit an old monk, who was famous for the reputation of his virtues. When he had approached him and greeted him, he said: "How are you, my Father?" "Very poorly," replied the senior. "Why?" asked the junior. Because, added the senior, "the thirtieth year is now passing since I have been in this desert for the sake of religion; yet all this time my prayers are against me: for I curse myself daily while I pray; I beseech God that He may not have mercy on me; and all my prayers at last are a lie and empty words." Being astonished at these words, that junior monk said: "How so, my Father?" "Because," replied the senior, "I decline from the commandments of God, yet in psallody I say: 'Cursed are they that decline from thy commandments (Ps. CXVIII, 21).' I commit iniquities, then I sing: 'Do not have mercy on me'"—

to all who work iniquity,” and I pray to God: “You shall destroy all those who speak a lie.” ^A I am entirely engrossed in the preparation of food, and given over to gluttony and drunkenness, yet I shamelessly pour out before God: “I forgot to eat my bread.” I indulge myself sufficiently in sloth and sleep, and nearly at midday I chant to God: “I rose at midnight to confess to Thee.” I devote diligent effort to rest and a pleasant life, and I shun labor; and then I chant: “I have labored in my groaning.” I am zealously devoted to laughter, mirth, and all worldly allurements; yet I intone with a loud voice: “My tears have been my bread day and night.” My heart is entirely fixed on pursuing worldly dignities and honors, and it meditates always on things that are halfway towards the goal; nevertheless, I boldly sing before God: “The meditation of my heart is in Thy sight always.” I almost never or rarely fast, and being fattened and very robust, I blurt out: “My knees are weakened by fasting.” I am puffed up with pride, and I am entirely inflated with knowledge like a wineskin, and I give no heed to true good works, and I shrink from labors; yet I entreat God: “Look at my humiliation ^B and my labor, and forgive me all my sins.” My heart is by no means ready for receiving divine things and for carrying out the mandates of God; yet I chant: “My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready.” Since these things, therefore, are so, ought I not to fear that I have run this course in vain, that I have deceived the truth, and that I have deserved punishments in place of a reward?

To this the younger monk said: "My father, David uttered these words about himself, not indeed about us monks." To whom that elder responded, not without sighs and most abundant tears: "My son, certainly, unless we now also truly sing about ourselves those things which David once truly sang about himself, when we sing them in our own person and address God with the same words, we are pouring forth lies, because it is the truth that words should correspond to deeds; and so our prayers will be empty words. Indeed, not only empty words, but [they will be] against us; and that saying of the same David will most truly be proclaimed about us: 'And let his prayer become sin.' ^D Likewise that [saying] of the wise Solomon: 'His prayer shall be detestable.'"

ANNO DOMINI CCCLXVII

EPISTLE OF SAINT THEODORE THE ABBOT TO ALL MONASTERIES CONCERNING PASCHA

RULE OF THE HOLY FATHERS SERAPION, MACARIUS, PAPHNUTIUS, AND THE OTHER MACARIUS FOR MONKS

ANOTHER RULE OF THE FATHERS FOR MONKS

YET ANOTHER RULE OF THE ORIENTAL FATHERS