YEAR OF OUR LORD 372 ST. ISAIAH THE ABBOT NOTICE
(Galland., Vet. Patr. Biblioth., t. VII, Proleg., p. vi.)
1. It is recorded that Abba Isaiah passed his life in the desert of Scetis while the great Athanasius was still among the living, as we learn from the epistle of Ammon the bishop to Theophilus of Alexandria (a). We do not, however, have certain knowledge as to whether this Isaiah is the same as the one reported to have been the brother of Paesius, about whom Palladius says much (b). Nor is it certain whether mention of our archimandrite is contained in the *Apophthegmata Patrum* (c). Yet, one might rightly say that the sayings of Abba Isaiah narrated therein (d) are to be ascribed to the blessed man of whom we speak. Nicephorus the monk also mentions him with praise in his little work *On the Custody of the Heart*, which we acknowledge accepting from Possinus (e). Furthermore, there is mention of him in Rufinus (f) and Palladius (g). Tillemont has examined with sufficient diligence what the ancients have handed down regarding our blessed Father (h).
B II. Furthermore, to approach our subject more closely: the fact that Isaiah, who flourished in the holiness of his life, also imbued with his precepts and institutes those brothers who lived with him in solitude, was commended to the memory of posterity by John, the prelate of Antioch, in the oration we praised above, where we spoke of Macarius of Egypt. For there, enumerating the divinely inspired books, *βίβλους θεοπνεύστους*, which the holy elders of Scetis wrote, he also remembers the book of the holy Isaiah, *τοῦ ὁσίου Ἡσαΐου*: who, for this reason, should justly be considered among the writers of the Church.
There exist, therefore, under his name XXIX *Orationes*, which were first translated into Latin and published at Venice in the year 1574 by Petrus Franciscus Zinus Veronensis, from a Greek codex written in ancient characters. These *Orationes* were subsequently brought into various libraries of the Fathers. We have, moreover, LXVIII *Precepts* or *Counsels* of the same Abba Isaiah, intended for novices in the monastic life, which Saint Benedict has preserved for us in the Codex Regularum of Holstenius (i). Finally, there are XIX *Capitula* on religious exercise and quiet, which were published in Greek and Latin at Paris in the year 1684 through the care and industry of Petrus Possinus (j). We have turned over all of these, collected together and divided into sections, to be printed. We must not omit here that the Possinian *Capitula* are nothing other than excerpts from the aforementioned XXIX *Orationes* published by Zinus: a fact which hitherto escaped not only the editor, but also Tillemont, Fabricius, and others. We have indicated the corresponding passages in the margins on both sides: in the *Orationes*, indeed, referring the reader to the *Capitula* so that he might consult the Greek; in the *Capitula*, however, referring to the *Orationes* so that it might be clear whence the compiler took his material. No one fails to see the benefit that arises from this collation, namely, that the value of both the Zinian version and, most especially, the sayings of the blessed Isaiah is increased thereby, until the full text of these same *Orationes* eventually comes to light.
III. Meanwhile, by virtue of our office, we have transcribed from the Damascene *Parallels* those things which pertain to the 20th *Oration* in Greek, and have appended them to the common translation. We have furthermore deemed it in our interest to provide here a few other things by which certain passages of these *Orationes* might either have their Greek restored or their interpretation reformed. And first, indeed, in *Oration* VIII (k), based on the Colbert manuscript, Cotelerius (l) describes this sentiment of Isaiah, which is greatly corrupted in the Latin vulgates: *Ἐὰν γάρ τις νηστεύει ἓξ ἓξ, καὶ ἐκδῷ ἑαυτὸν εἰς μεγάλους κόπους καὶ ἐντολὰς, ἐκτὸς τῆς ὁδοῦ αὐτοῦ, πάντες οἱ κόποι αὐτοῦ μάταιοί εἰσιν*. This is: "For if someone fasts for six days, and gives himself over to great labors and precepts, outside of his path, all his labors are vain." Zinus the interpreter: "But if anyone, without humility, falls to fasting, or afflicts himself severely, or..."
attempts to observe; his labors are empty. A Having read these things, "You see," says that most learned man, "how much it matters to have Greek authors edited in their own tongue." Another passage from Isaiah’s Oration XXVI, regarding the sayings which Peter the abbot, his disciple, received from him and committed to writing, in the praised Colbertine codex, under the title, *Lamentations of Abba Isaiah*, stands as follows: "A tree being watered daily, when does its root wither so as not to bear fruit?" This is: "An arbor that is watered daily, when does its root dry up, that it might not produce fruit?" Truly, Zinus the interpreter says: "An arbor that is watered does not dry up, but bears fruit." Finally, the same man observes in Corderius's *Catena* on Luke XIV, 27 (p. 473), that this sentiment is brought forth as if from Isaiah the Archbishop: "What kind of cross, however, does he say we should carry, if not abstinence from passions, until the mind entirely eradicates them?" Truly, he says, since in Oration XXII of the Abbot Isaiah it is written from Zinus’s version: "Whoever does not lift up his cross and follow me, cannot be my disciple." What does he mean, that we should lift up the cross, unless that the mind should be constantly vigilant and apply itself to virtues? He does not depart from the cross, who pursues vices until he destroys and overcomes them: I have no doubt that an abbreviated text led the learned man into error, causing him to transform an archimandrite into an archbishop. This is what he says; and perhaps upon his suggestion, Fabricius later noted the same error of Corderius.
IV. Moreover, besides those two sayings of the same Abbot Isaiah, which we have transcribed from John of Damascus’s *Sacred Parallels* and placed below among his remaining writings—seeing that they do not appear in the common codices—others further occur in the work of Antonius Melissa, who, having been instructed by his teacher Damascenus, compiled his *Commonplaces*. Indeed, that other works of our blessed archimandrite exist even now, hitherto unpublished, beyond the praised Cotelerius, is further borne witness to by the rich library of manuscript books arranged by the illustrious Montfaucon.
THE ORATIONS OF ABBA ISAIAH
ORATION I
Precepts to the brethren who will live with him.
1. You who wish to remain with me, listen, I beseech you, for God’s sake. Let everyone dwell in his own cell with the fear of God. Do not despise the work of your hands on account of God’s commandment. Do not neglect your own care and constant prayer. Guard your heart from alien thoughts, being anxious for nothing regarding anyone or the business of this world. Always seek how you may progress and amend yourselves, beseeching God with sorrow of soul and tears and affliction, that He may forgive your sins and guard you in the future, lest you fall into the same things again. Let death be set before your eyes daily. Let that concern occupy you: how you may depart from the body, how you may avoid the powers of darkness B which will meet you in the air. How you may stand before God on that dreadful day of judgment, when merited rewards shall be distributed for everyone’s work and word and thought. For all things are naked and open to his eyes, to whom you must render an account. At table and in the congregation, say nothing unless a great necessity urges. Do not correct one who is chanting, C unless he asks you for something. Let each one contribute to necessary food during the week in such a way that they do not in the meantime cast aside the care of their own souls. Let no one enter into his brother’s cell. Do not care to see one another before the appointed time. Do not be curious about what other works the rest have done, nor whether your brother labors more than you do, or you more than he. Going out to work, beware of sloth and arrogance. And let each one attend to himself with the fear of God, and to the work of his hands, and to meditation, and to his soul in secret. When the congregation is dismissed, or you rise from the table, do not sit among yourselves even speaking of divine things; but let each one seek his own cell, and there lament his sins. But if necessity calls for conversation, speak of very few things with humility and religion, as if God were present. And do not contend over any matter, nor speak evil of anyone, nor judge anyone; nor in word or thought despise anyone, nor suspect anything evil of anyone. Let no lie depart from your mouth. Nor should you wish to speak or hear anything that is not useful. Malice in your heart D
should not reside, nor hatred, nor envy towards A your neighbor. II. Do not have one thing ready on your lips and another concealed in your mind. For God is not mocked, but perceives all things, as well the hidden as the manifest. Do not hide your thoughts, distresses, and suspicions, but disclose them all to your abbot; and receive with faith what you hear from him. Beware that you do not neglect my commandments when you have decided to live with me. For if you keep them, I will render an account to God for you; but if you do not keep them, an account will be required from you for your negligence and from me for my sloth. Whoever keeps my commandments, in secret as well as in the open, the Lord God will guard him from all evil, and will protect him in every temptation, both secret and manifest. I exhort you, my brothers, to consider why you have withdrawn from the B world. Take care of your salvation, lest your renunciation be in vain; and lest you be ashamed in the sight of God and His saints, who for His sake have renounced the world and been afflicted. Consider virtue to consist in this: if you refrain from contention, if you endure adverse things with an equitable mind, if you cultivate humility, if in all things you deny your own will, if you do not trust in your own righteousness, but always keep your sins before your eyes. Recreation, believe me, and relaxation and vainglory, cast away all the fruit of the monk.
ORATION II
Concerning the mind, according to nature
I. I do not wish you to be ignorant, brothers, that when God in the beginning created man, He placed him in paradise with senses whole and consonant with nature. Yet after he listened to him by whom he was deceived, all his senses were turned into a habit contrary to nature, and he himself was cast down from his glory. But our Lord, impelled by great charity, declared His mercy toward the human race. For the Word became flesh, that is, He was made perfect man, like us in all things, save for sin, that through His holy body He might recall us to the pristine state of nature. For showing mercy to man, He brought him back into paradise. Thus, indeed, He has stirred up those who wish to follow His footsteps and obey the commandments He gave us, so that they might be able to overcome those who cast us down from our glory. He also delivered to us the holy rule of serving God and the pure law, that man might return to that state of nature in which he had been established by God. Therefore, he who wishes to return there cuts off all the desires of his flesh, so that he may bring his mind back to its pristine state. There is a desire consonant with nature, without which charity toward God does not consist. For this reason Daniel was called a man of desires. The enemy has changed this desire into foul covetousness, C that we should desire all filthiness. There is a zeal of the soul consistent with nature, without which it is not permitted to progress into God. Therefore, "be zealous," says the Apostle, "for the better gifts." This divine zeal has deflected from the natural state, so that we attack one another with mutual emulations, envy, and lies.
II. There is an anger of the mind not at all alien to the reason of nature, without which chastity does not stand in man—that is, unless we grow angry against the seeds which the enemy strews into us: just as Phineas the son of Eleazar, moved by such anger, transfixed a man together with a woman, and the anger of the Lord departed from His people. This anger has been diverted for us, so that we grow angry at our neighbors over any trivial and useless things whatsoever. There is a hatred of the soul according to nature, by which Elias killed all the prophets of filthiness he found. By it also Samuel burned against Agag, the king of Amalec. Without this hatred against the adversary, the glory of the soul is not declared. Truly, this hatred has been turned against nature for us, and therefore we hate and despise our neighbor, and we persecute all virtues. There is an elation of the soul against enemies that is not at all contrary to nature, which Job, when he found it, used to reproach his enemies: "Men," he said, "sordid and abject and destitute of every good, whom I have deemed unworthy to put with the dogs of my flock." This sublimity of the soul has failed us against our enemies, and we have been humbled to our enemies, but we contend proudly with our neighbors, and deem ourselves righteous before them. By which pride, indeed, God becomes our enemy. Affections of the soul of this kind were created with man, D which he, when he had eaten from the forbidden tree, commuted into foul vices. Let us, most dear brothers, delete these things from our souls, and let us cultivate those things which our Lord Jesus Christ showed us in His holy body. He is Holy, and He dwells in the holy. Let us attend to ourselves and endeavor to please God according to our strength, applying ourselves to good works. Let us weigh all our pursuits and cares, and bring them back to the right reason and norm of nature, so that we may find mercy in the day of temptation which impends over the total world. We always need the kindness of God, that it may bring aid to our infirmity and deliver us from our enemies: for His is the power, and the aid, and the empire, unto the ages of ages. Amen.
ORATION III
Instruction for the younger brothers
I. Humility is necessary above all, which must be spoken of in every discourse. For by humility all the arts of the adversaries are overcome. Carefully weigh all things that are to be done by you, so that you may be found constant in your words. Keep gravity in your countenance; use gentleness toward guests, that the fear of God may dwell with you. If you undertake a journey with the brothers, so confirm yourself that...
your mind is not distracted into various parts, but meditate with yourself, or pour out prayers to God in your heart. Wherever you turn aside, show yourself modest and reverent in life and in all things. As to what is set before you, stretch out your hand as if you were forced to eat. If you are a junior, do not dare to apply your hand to the body of another. In the place where you must sleep, do not cover yourself and another with the same cloak. Before you betake yourself to bed, pour out many prayers in your heart. If you are tired from the road and wish to be anointed with a little oil because of the labor of the journey, permit yourself to be anointed only on the feet, in such a way that you are wary of having them uncovered. But do not allow your whole body to be anointed, unless necessity or illness compels it. If a stranger brother comes to stay with you in your cell, exhibit the same service to him, and anoint his feet with oil, saying for the sake of charity: "Brother, receive a little oil and attend to your body." But if he does not wish to receive it quietly, do not be troublesome to him. But if he is an experienced elder, urge him to allow himself to be anointed all over. If you sit down at the table with the junior brothers, do not say in your mind, "Eat," but call your sins to mind, so that you do not eat with pleasure. Stretch out your hand only before yourself. But take care not to cast your hand upon that which is set before another. Let your cloak cover your feet. Let your knees be joined together. If there are guests who are eating, supply them with what is necessary with a cheerful face. And when they have finished eating, say to them a second and a third time: "I beseech you, eat a little more." While eating, do not cast your eyes upon your neighbor, nor look here and there, nor utter foolish words. Stretch out your hand to nothing that you wish for unless you first say: "Bless." When you drink water, do not let your throat make a sound, as common men are wont to do. If in the company of the brothers phlegm is troublesome to you, do not cast it out in their sight, but go outside and clear yourself there. Nor expose your body so that it may be seen by men. If the desire to yawn seizes you, keep your mouth closed, and it will flee from you. Do not open your mouth to laugh: for this is a sign of a more relaxed spirit. If you see the garment, or girdle, or cowl, or any other thing of your neighbor, do not covet it. Nor, by making similar things for yourself, indulge your own desire. If you bind a book for yourself, do not labor at decorating it; for that is a childish vice. B
II. If you have erred in anything, do not cover your error with a lie, but, doing penance, ask for pardon, and the error will be forgiven you. If anyone rebukes you rather harshly, do not lift up your heart against him, but strive to satisfy him before your spirit is angered: for anger arises from self-will. If in any matter you are reproved by anyone, whether justly or unjustly, do not be troubled, but do penance, saying: "Forgive me; I will not do it again." By these reasons, youth makes progress in the study of piety.
When you work at anything with your hands, apply diligence in the fear of God, lest, if you are negligent, you sin through ignorance. When you learn any work, consult your master, and do not blush to ask him often so that, out of charity, he may see whether it is well done or not. If, while you are occupied at work, your brother calls you, see diligently what he wants, and, having interrupted your work, help him. When you rise from the table, enter your cell and attend to your prayers, and do not sit with those who do not profit you. But if the elders are talking about God, ask your abbot whether you should listen or go to your cell; and do what he tells you. If he sends you anywhere, ask if he wishes you to turn aside, and diligently observe what he commands you, so that you do neither more nor less. What you hear outside, do not tell to anyone upon returning. If you guard your ears, your tongue will not sin. If you want some thing, and he with whom you live does not wish it, yield your will to him, lest strife arise, or lest your brother be afflicted with sadness. C
III. Having been received at the hospitality of your brother, do not command him in anything, as though you were a stranger, nor wish to be in charge yourself. Do not intrude into the conversations of those with whom you dwell as if you were a companion and an equal. If they entrust to you anything that you yourself do not want, fight with your will until you overcome it, lest you afflict them, and lose your own modesty, and disturb their quiet custom. If the brother with whom you live asks you to look out for something for him, do it as you are able in the fear of God. If there is some work to be done, all you who live together, put your hands to it; let no one spare his own body, lest the conscience of others be disturbed. When you rise in the morning, daily before you betake yourself to work, meditate on the things of God. Whether it be a basket, or a vessel, or anything else that must be done, do it promptly with diligence. If there is anything that brings profit, take your brother as a partner, and do not be envious. If there is some small work, and one says to another: "Withdraw, brother, and work, I will do this alone," obey: for he who obeys is great. If a stranger brother comes to you, greet and embrace him with a joyful face, and take his burden from him with joy yourself. And at his departure, do the same again. But let your greeting be with meekness and the fear of God, so that he is not offended. Beware of asking him about useless things, but invite him to prayer. And after he has sat down, ask how he fares, and nothing more, but offer him some book to read. If he is tired from the road, see to it that he rests, and wash his feet. If he utters words that are not seemly, admonish him with charity: "Forgive me," you say; "I am weak, and I cannot bear these things." If he is poor and has dirty clothes, you wash them. If he is a wanderer and a peddler, and you have some faithful men with you, do not bring him into their sight, but show mercy to him with the charity of God. D
A If a brother seeks hospitality with you for the sake of God, do not turn your face away from him, but receive him with joy, and admit him along with the faithful who have turned aside to you. If he is a beggar, do not let him go away empty-handed, but share with him some blessing that God has given you, that you may declare that the things you possess are not your own, but gifts of God. If a brother has deposited something with you, do not open it unless he himself is present. If there is anything precious inside, tell him to place it in your own hand.
B IV. If, going on a journey, you turn aside to someone’s house, and he goes out and leaves you alone, do not lift up your eyes to look at the household goods and furniture that are there. Beware of opening a window, or a chest, or a book. Pray for him as he leaves, and if he has entrusted any work to you, do it diligently. Do not praise things you do not know. Never affirm what you have heard as certain or thoroughly verified. Do not despise anyone on account of his outward appearance. If you draw water or do anything else for necessary use, do not be negligent, but remember that you are being watched by God. If you are in your cell at leisure for prayer, beware of doing it negligently, lest, while you wish to honor God, you provoke Him to anger; but stand in the fear of God: do not lean yourself against the wall; do not place your feet in such a way that you stand on one and lift the other, as foolish people do. Confirm your heart so that you do not walk according to your own will, in order that your sacrifice may be pleasing to God. If you are chanting psalms among yourselves, let each one offer his own prayers. If any stranger is present, ask him with charity C to perform that duty himself, and say this to him a second and third time without contention. In the hour of sacrifice, resist thoughts, so that, by keeping your senses in the love of God, you may be made worthy of the mysteries, and the Lord may heal your infirmities. Beware of letting your body, left in filth, be seduced by vainglory. The younger one should neglect his body in every deformity; for that is profitable to him. The one who is young should never put on a fine garment until he has reached manly age: he has need of this medicine. Let him drink wine up to the third cup, if his health requires it. He should never open his teeth in laughter. Let him keep his face cast down to the ground out of modesty. When about to go to bed, let him be girded with his belt. Thus let his hands be accustomed not to be brought inside. For the body has many D vices, which the mind brings to perfection. Let him wear sandals only on a journey, but not in his cell. When he walks, let him compose his hands joined together at his belt, and not shake them about, as more relaxed men are wont to do. If you travel with elders, do not walk ahead of them at all. If he who is older stops and talks with someone, do not be contemptuous or sit down, but stand for as long as it takes for him to tell you what you must do. If you go into a city or a village, let your eyes look downward, lest you stir up enemies against yourself in your cell. When going on a journey, do not sleep in anyone’s house where your heart might fear the danger of sin. If you are in a place where you are to take food, and you understand that a woman is at hand, do not sit down in any way. For it is better to offend him who invited you than for your heart to commit adultery in secret. Do not even look at the clothes of women, if it can be avoided. If a woman greets you as you travel, answer her in your heart, but keep your eyes fixed on the ground. If you travel with an elder, do not let him carry any burden at all, if there is anything to be carried. But if you are equals, carry it both of you in turn, yet always so that the one who is burdened walks in front.
ORATION IV. What is to be observed on a journey.
I. If, as you travel, there is someone among you who is weaker, allow him to go first, so that he may be able to sit down if he wishes. But if it happens that, since you are juniors, you are the first to sit down at the table, or to reach for the dish with your hands, do it only once, lest you be troubled if you have arrived before the hour. But if someone else enters first, let another enter first in turn. If you ask an elder about your thoughts, and you know him to be faithful in keeping what you have said, reveal your mind to him freely. If you hear of your brother's sin, do not communicate it to anyone; for it is your own death. If some speak about the thoughts by which you are being attacked, do not care to listen, lest a war be stirred up against you. Be frequent in prayer; for prayer is the light of your soul. Think over what you have done wrong each day; for if you will pray for your sins, God will forgive them for you. If anyone speaks against his brother in your presence, beware of keeping silent out of shame, or of agreeing with him, lest you sin against God: but say with humility, "Forgive me, brother; I am an unhappy man; and what you are saying applies to me, and I cannot bear it." If a brother has harmed you, and someone has spoken ill of him in your presence, guard your heart, lest malice be renewed in it; and remember your own sins in the sight of God, that He may forgive you. Do not return evil for evil to your neighbor. If you travel with brothers who are unknown and younger than you, honor them as elders. But if you turn aside to your friend, put them ahead of yourself in all things, so that they may sit down first at the table and be the first to stretch out their hands to the food, so that they might not appear to have been received for your sake, but rather, by honoring them, show that you have received mercy on their account. If you have set out on a journey with a brother and have a friend to visit, reveal the reason to your brother, and tell him to sit for a while. But if your friend compels you to eat, beware of letting anything enter your mouth before you invite your brother, so that he may rest and be refreshed at the same time.
II. If, having begun a journey with several brothers, you are ashamed of not bringing them with you to your friend, because there are many of them, beware of despising them and sneaking away or eating, having left them behind; but consult as to what you should do, and
do what they themselves say. On the road, do not spare yourself, spurning menial services. If you are setting out on a journey and wish to stay with a brother, and he refuses to receive you, and later he meets you on the road or comes to visit you, treat him most kindly and humanely. If you discover that someone has slandered you, and you meet in some place, or he comes to visit you, show him as cheerful and benign a face as you can, and do not, if you have heard those things, mention them or ask why he spoke thus: for as it is written in Proverbs: *He that is mindful of injuries is unjust* (Prov. XII, 16). If you are with brethren and are going on a journey to stay with a poor brother, do not burden him with necessary things, but purchase them yourselves so that there may be enough for him too, and be content with the hospitality and shelter you have found. If you visit some elders known to you, and there are others with you unknown to the elders, do not converse with the elders in their presence; rather, let them speak. If brethren live with you, take diligent care of them, knowing that you will render an account to God for them. If *C* you have withdrawn to some place for God’s sake, do not enter into business with the inhabitants of that place, nor confer with them; for it may perhaps be better for you to be with those who are joined to you by blood. If you ascend a mountain to visit brethren in monasteries, stay with the one whom you are visiting, and do not depart to another unless you first ask him whether he wishes it or not. If he does not wish it, do not leave him unless you have to depart. If you have been given the cell in which to dwell, do not take on many friends; let one be enough for you, because of infirmity, lest you lose the fruit of your progress.
III. If you do a kindness to a poor person, do not call him to work, lest you lose the reward of the kindness you showed him. If you enter a monastery unknown to you where you are permitted to stay, remain there and do not enter another cell unless you are invited. If you have left your relatives to live in solitude for God’s sake, do not allow yourself to be seized by a longing for them. If, while you are dwelling in your cell, the pity of a father or mother stirs you, or the remembrance of a brother or sister, or compassion for children, or yearning for a wife, set before your eyes the last day of your life and the judgment, in which no one will bring you help; and you will not in the least regret having left them. If, while sitting in your cell, you remember someone by whom you have been insulted, arise and pray to God with all your heart to forgive him, and the thought of vengeance will flee from you. If you go to receive the communion of the mysteries, observe all your thoughts, lest you receive it to your judgment. If you are tempted nightly by the imagination of habit, guard your heart so that it does not dwell in the daytime on what that imagination of bodies was, lest you be defiled by such a thought and provoke God to indignation; rather, fall as a suppliant before Him with all your heart, and He will help you: D for He is merciful in human infirmity. If you are free for exercise, do not let your heart rely and trust in it, but say to your thought, "God will hear my misery through the affliction of the body." If anyone heaps insults upon you, do not answer him, but silently consider within yourself whether what you hear is true; and if it is true, do penance, and God will have mercy on you. If, while on a journey with brethren, you find among them someone whom you love in God, do not converse with him too freely while others are watching, lest perhaps there be some weak person among them who might die of jealousy; and you would bear his sin, since you offered him an occasion for sinning. When you turn toward some people, do not expect that you will be received by them with joy; but if they do receive you, give thanks to God. If sickness attacks you while you are at rest in your cell, do not lose heart, but give thanks to God. If you feel your heart cast down, say to it: "Is not this sickness lighter for you than Gehenna, into which you will enter unless you behave patiently and steadfastly?" And thus it will grow quiet. If you stay with brethren and one of them says: "I do not find rest here, I wish to live with you," do not permit this to him, lest you be a stumbling block to the rest. But if he says: "My soul is dying for an obscure reason," give him a place so that he may depart; but do not permit him to stay with you.
IV. When you cultivate rest and silence in your cell, observe some moderation in food, so that the body may have what is necessary and may be able to serve in divine worship. But do not eat anything, whether it be good or bad, with delight and the pleasure of taste. If necessity compels you to visit brethren or a monastery, do not offer your body anything that is pleasant to it for satiety, so that it may return to the cell with greater willingness and not betray you. If demons persuade your mind that you should exercise yourself beyond your strength, do not listen to them: for they are accustomed to incite a man to things he cannot perform, so that he may fall into their hands and they may rejoice. Eat once a day, and provide for your body what is necessary for it, so that you may be able to endure in your pious exercise. Be vacant for vigils prudently, and do not deny the body its necessary rest, but embrace the study of piety with gentleness and consideration, lest the mind be perturbed by excessive watching and flee from the stadium. Half of the night is enough for pious exercise; let the other half be granted to the body’s rest. Spend two hours before you go to bed in praying and chanting psalms. Afterward rest, and when the Lord has awakened you, apply yourself diligently to prayers. If you see your body is sluggish, say to it: "Do you wish to be slothful for a brief time and soon be cast into outer darkness?" If you bestir yourself a little, strength and vigor will follow. Do not enter into friendship with those men who are going to procure for you the familiarity of other men as well, lest excessive popularity bring you detriment. If you are in a monastery and have servants over whom you exercise authority, you treat your habit with insolence; but if you love him as a brother, you sin against God if you do not manumit him, so that he may be free…
But if the monk wishes to become one, let him see to that himself; A you, however, must not permit him to remain with you, for that is not expedient for your soul.
V. If you afflict your body in a celebrated place, and for that reason men emulate and honor you, leave it and depart elsewhere, lest your labor be rendered vain. But if you have overcome vainglory, do not attend to what men say or do, but refer everything to the munificence of God. If you have renounced the world, reserve nothing at all for yourself. If the desire for wandering B invades you, bind your body more vehemently to the work of your hands, so that you may rest in your cell with meekness and eat your bread. If you go to the city to sell your work, do not contend over the price, as secular men are wont to do, but sell it with simplicity, lest you lose the fruit of your cell. If necessity compels you to buy something at any time, buy it without contention; do not say, "I will not buy it unless it is for so much," but give what is asked if you have it; if you do not have it, depart in silence. But if a thought stimulates you, say: "I have already become entirely like all the saints who were tempted in poverty, until God found their purpose faithful and brought them forth into a wide place." If a brother has deposited something with you, and you have need of it, do not touch it unless you have first asked the brother. If a brother asks you to buy something for him while you are going somewhere, if you are able to buy it for him, do it. But if you live with others, do not do this contrary to their opinion, lest you offend your fellow residents. If you are compelled by some necessity to travel to your homeland, guard yourself against those who are joined to you by blood, C lest you socialize too freely with them or engage in conversation. If a brother has lent you anything, do not neglect it, but return it intact and quickly. If it is an instrument necessary for work, return it as soon as you have finished the work. If it has been broken or ruined by you, fix it or restore another that is better. If you have lent something, or given it as a loan to a poor brother, which he is unable to repay, do not afflict him or exact it bitterly, whether it be money, or a garment, or anything else that you gave him.
VI. If you take yourself to some place to live, and you receive a cell and have expended money on building it, and you afterwards leave it, and after some time you return and find a brother living in it, do not expel him, but seek another cell for yourself, lest you sin against God. But if he wishes to depart of his own accord, you will be innocent. As for those things which you left in the cell, if by chance they have been consumed by him, do not ask for them. If you migrate from your cell, do not take with you the things in it that are necessary for use, but leave them for a poor brother; and God will provide for you wherever you live. Do not blush to reveal all the thoughts that attack you to a senior, if you wish to find the solace of relief: for demons do not, except from the man who D hides his thoughts, whether they be evil or good, gain joy. Be careful diligently, when you approach communion, that you have no malice against your brother; for thus you deceive yourself. If the words of Scripture are revealed to you, so that you can transfer them to allegory, do it. But take care not to destroy the letter, nor to trust in your own sense more than in the holy Scriptures; for that is a sign of pride. If your brother, deceived by the words of heretics, has departed from the right faith through imprudence, and returning to his senses, turns back to it again, do not despise him; for he wandered through ignorance. Take care not to converse with heretics even for the sake of defending the faith, lest by chance their words pour poison into your mind. If you find a book that is said to be of the heretics, beware of reading it, lest it fill your heart with deadly poison, but in that doctrine which you have learned in the holy Church, persist in such a way that you add nothing to it, and subtract nothing. Abhor the science falsely so called, which, as the Apostle says, is adverse to sound doctrine. If you are younger and have not yet brought your body into servitude, but you hear of the outstanding virtues of the fathers, do not strive after them in such a way that you trust you can attain them in leisure and quiet. For unless you cultivate them, you will not attain them. But if you cultivate them, they will come to you of their own accord.
VII. Flee from idleness as much as you can; for this destroys the monk’s fruit. If you are struggling with mental perturbations and vices, do not fail, but prostrate yourself before God: saying, "I cannot, with my whole heart, resist by myself; bring help to me, a wretched one, O Lord": and you will overcome. If, while you are dwelling in your cell, seeds of depravity are scattered in your heart, strive with all your strength so that they may not coalesce and gain command over you. Consider that God is present, to whose eyes those things are manifest which you speak in your heart. Thus, therefore, address your soul: "If you are ashamed before your fellow sinners and fear that they might see your foul deeds, how much more ought you to fear God, to whom all things are manifest?" From this consideration, the fear of God is excited in the soul; if you lean upon it, you will remain immovable against perturbations. For it is written: *They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Sion: he shall not be moved for ever, who dwells in Jerusalem.* If in your exercise you resist temptation in such a way that you do not seem to be broken or weakened and to retreat, let your heart be triumphant, or elevated; for demons, when they flee, construct ambushes and prepare a battle more dangerous than the former; they place troops in ambush behind the city, and command them not to come forth until, when they are fleeing, your heart, in pursuing them, becomes insolent; then indeed they rise up, so that the unhappy soul, being circumvented, has no refuge. Let your refuge and bastion, therefore, be that you approach God as a suppliant with your whole heart, and implore his help, and he will deliver you from all the assaults of the enemy. If you pray to God that he might deliver you from temptation, and you are not heard, do not
lose heart; for he knows better than you what is expedient for you. Do not say, therefore: Give me this, or take that from me; but pray thus: Lord Jesus Christ, help me; do not allow me to sin against thee. I have strayed from the straight path; do not permit me to follow my own will; do not suffer me to perish in my sins; have mercy on thy creature, do not despise me, for I am weak; do not abandon me, because I have taken refuge in thee. Heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee. In thy sight are all who trouble me. And there is no one to whom I can flee, except to thee, O Lord. Save me, I beseech thee, O Lord, through thy mercy. Let all be confounded and put to shame who rise up against me, who seek my soul, that they may destroy it. Thou, O Lord, canst do all things, and through thee is glory to God the Father, and to the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen. Then your conscience will speak aloud in your heart, and will reveal the reason why God does not hear you. It will then be your duty not to disregard what it has said, but to do it diligently. For it is impossible that, if a person hears God, God should not hear that person. He is not far from man. But our wills, which are contrary to him, do not permit him to hear us. Let no one deceive you. For just as a field cannot bring forth fruit of itself without seed and water, so a man cannot bear fruit without affliction and humility.
VIII. B Let us remain in the fear of God, dearest brothers, and as we cultivate virtues, let us offer no stumbling block to our conscience, but let us be attentive to ourselves in the fear of God, until it, too, becomes free with us, and so united to us that it may henceforth be our guardian and show us what to avoid. But if we refuse to obey it, it will leave and forsake us, and we shall fall into the hands of our enemies, who will not have mercy upon us afterward, just as the Lord taught us: "Be," he says, "in agreement with your adversary while you are on the road with him, lest the adversary hand you over to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the minister, and you be cast into prison. Amen I say to you, you shall not go out from there until you have paid the last farthing." The conscience is called the adversary because it opposes a man who desires to do the will of the flesh. And this adversary, unless a man agrees with it, hands him over to his own enemies. Therefore, Hosea, having pity on Ephraim, said: "He oppressed his adversary, and trampled underfoot judgment. He sought Egypt, and by force was led to the Assyrians." He who wishes to do the will of the flesh seeks Egypt. But he is led by force to the Assyrians when, whether willingly or unwillingly, he serves his enemies. Let us strive, dearest brothers, not to fall into the hands of our own will according to the flesh, lest it lead us captive into Assyria, and we hear those bitter words: "The king of Assyria came into the land of Israel, and took Ephraim and Israel captive into Assyria; and he placed them by Halah and A by the rivers of Gozan; and they are there unto this present day." These things befell Ephraim because he oppressed his adversary and trampled underfoot judgment.
IX. Consider, dearest friends, what befell those who indulged their own evil wills and trampled their own conscience underfoot. Let us not emulate them, beloved, but rather let us all imitate the saints, who did not obey sin even to the point of death, but obeyed their own holy conscience, and received the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven. For each of them was perfect in his own age through charity. And no forgetting shall ever erase their names. Let us take up the example of the beloved Jacob, who obeyed his parents in all things according to God. Having received the blessing, he wished to depart to Mesopotamia, so that he might beget children there for himself. For he did not wish to beget children from the daughters of the Canaanites, who had contended with his parents. Then, having taken his staff and a little jar of oil, he came to the place Bethel, which signifies the house of God, and slept there, and by night, during his rest, he saw a vision of a ladder reaching from heaven to earth, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon it; and the Lord was leaning upon the ladder. This figure shows that to him who begins to serve God, there appears in the beginning a type of the virtues, which unless one cultivates diligently, one cannot reach God. Jacob then arose, and made a covenant with God that he would be his servant, and God confirmed him, saying: "I will be with you and will guard you." Then, having set out for Mesopotamia so that he might take a wife there, when he saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncle, he loved her and served seven years for her. Although she was not given to him until he had taken Leah to wife. And Rachel was sterile. Mesopotamia obtained its name from the fact that it is situated between two rivers, namely, between the Tigris and the Euphrates. The former flows from the region of the Assyrians; the other has no beginning, but is said to flow in breadth. The Tigris is discernment, but the Euphrates is humility. Leah bears the type of the labors of the body; Rachel, however, of true contemplation. These things happen to a man residing in Mesopotamia, so that he may undertake bodily labors with discernment, by which he may defeat the Assyrian enemies, and through humility attain to true contemplation.
X. Furthermore, Rachel did not beget children before Leah gave birth and Jacob himself served. From which we understand that a man, unless he has first exerted labors in cultivating the virtues, cannot aspire to the liberty of true perfection. Both, indeed, were wives to Jacob, but he loved Rachel more than Leah; because Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel had a beautiful face.
A The eyes of the first wife signify a man who, while occupied in the labors of the body, does not yet gaze upon true contemplation. They are therefore to be interrupted. For although they may cease for a little while, a return to them will nevertheless be granted. For Leah will offer her handmaid Zilpah to her husband, and thus she will again bear children; and she will call the name of the son Asher, which means "riches." But when Leah ceases to bear, then God will remember Rachel. Therefore, when the labors of the body have subdued the senses and freed them from perturbations, then true contemplation unveils glory to the mind. And although the sons of Leah were a help to Jacob, he loved Joseph most of all. This means: although bodily labors defend a man from the enemy, yet it is true contemplation that joins him to God. After Joseph was seen, he wished to return to his parents, for he had certainly seen that he who was to be king among his brothers had been born to him. But when it is said that Jacob sent all his possessions across the torrent and remained alone, and received the joy of the blessing, with the Lord saying: *Thy name shall not be called Jacob, but Israel*, he was called Jacob because he supplanted, until he was made worthy of the blessing and guarded his senses, which were in the enemy's hand. Therefore, after they were freed, he was called Israel, which is "mind seeing God." B For when the mind has arrived at the point where it sees the glory of the Divinity, it is feared by the enemy. Although, therefore, Esau may come to meet him with bitterness, the humility of Jacob extinguishes his malice, nor is he attacked by him any further. But if the enemy still rages, he casts himself into the sight of God. And when he sees the great glory he has received, he cannot bring violence upon him. For God helps him, as it is written: *Return into the land of thy kindred, and I will be with thee*. Afterwards he came to Salem, and bought a field there, and built an altar to God. Salem is peace. For when a man has escaped the war in which God defends him, he comes to peace, and he sets up an altar with twelve stones, and offers upon it from the labors of the servitude which he served in Mesopotamia, in the possession he held in the promised land.
C XI. Such also was the beloved of God, Moses, when he led the people out of Egypt, and freed them from the hand of Pharaoh, and crossed the Red Sea, and witnessed the death of all his enemies, and sent Joshua to destroy Amalek. He himself, however, stood on the mountain top; and his hands were supported by Aaron and Hur, so that they might not fall, in the image of the cross in which they were established. And Joshua returned with joy, Amalek having been destroyed. Then he built an altar upon the mountain with twelve stones, and imposed a name upon the mountain, "The Lord is my refuge," because God fought against D Amalek with an unseen hand. Amalek signifies sloth. For if a man begins to flee from his own wills and takes refuge in God, sloth first attacks him and attempts to lead him back to his former sins: but assiduous familiarity with God repels it. And this produces temperance, while affliction of the body produces temperance. By these reasons Israel is liberated. And then man gives thanks to God: "I am," he says, "infirm and weak, but You are my helper from generation to generation." Such was also the great prophet Elijah, who could not destroy all the prophets of shame opposing him until he had built an altar with twelve stones, and poured water upon the piled-up wood, and placed the holy sacrifice upon it. And the divine fire consumed the altar, and the things that were placed upon the altar. Then he gained confidence against his adversaries, and when he had destroyed them unto utter slaughter, he gave thanks to God: "You," he says, "are in all these things." For it is written that he placed his face between his knees. For unless the mind is diligently established among its senses, and keeps watch soberly and chastely and assiduously, it does not attain the eternal happiness which brings this glory to it. And if the minister of Elijah looks out, and sees none of the seven vices arising, then he perceives a small cloud like a man bringing water from the sea: which signifies the Holy Spirit resting in our mind. For in this is happiness situated: that our exercises of virtue may be whole and perpetual, and that we may not return to those things for which we have obtained pardon. For if our labors and studies are acceptable to God, our adversaries will not be able to stand. For when they see that their will is not obeyed by us, then they will dissolve of themselves. "Call upon," he says, "the names of your gods, and I will call upon the name of the Lord my God; and whoever shall hear in fire, he shall be the Lord God." Although demons suggest temptations to our minds, they cannot lead them to completion while we are unwilling. All of them indeed bring their forces to bear; but the man of God does not listen to them, because his heart, which rests in the will of God, abhors them. "Call upon," he says, "the names of your gods, and I will call upon the name of my God." Which they did in vain.
XII. These things have been written for our benefit, that we might follow the footsteps of those who struggled for happiness through the study of virtues. They fled to the help of God, and in Him they placed all their hopes, trusting nothing in their own strength. And divine protection was to them a fortified city. For they knew that they could do nothing without the guardianship of God. They spoke with that humility the words of David: "Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it. Unless the Lord keep the city, he watcheth in vain who keepeth it." For if God should see a mind perfectly subject to Him, and having no hope in any other, He confirms it, saying: "Fear not, my son Jacob; boy Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed you, and I have called your name; you are mine. And if you pass through water, I am with you, and the rivers shall not engulf you."
If you walk through fire, you shall not be burned; for the flame shall not consume you: because I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, who saves you. When the soul hears this voice, it grows bold against its enemies. "Who," it says, "is my opponent? Let him approach me. Behold, God is my helper; who will harm me? Behold, you shall all grow old like a garment, and a moth will consume you like wool." May God find us among those who are endowed with humility, and are kept by it unharmed from all the darts of the enemy, through the grace of God, whose is the power, and the glory, and the dominion for ever and ever! Amen.
ORATION V. What must be observed by those who desire to live together in peace.
1. If you travel together, pay attention if any among you happens to be weaker, and have consideration for him, if he wishes to sit even for a while, or to taste something before the appointed hour. A If you set out to do some work, let each one attend to himself, and not to his brother. Let no one dare to teach another, or to command him anything. If you are doing some work within the cell, allow everyone to work at his own discretion. But if someone says: "I entreat you to teach me, for I do not know," he who is skilled among you should not be reluctant, nor refuse to teach. For this is not humility according to God. If you see your brother doing some work, do not tell him that he is erring or doing nothing. But if he himself asks you to teach him, and you do not do this, but remain silent, you show that charity towards God is not in you, but wickedness. B If your brother has not cooked the food very well, do not say that he has cooked it badly; for that is death to your soul: but consider how burdensome and grievous it would have been to you if someone had uttered those words to you, and you will be at peace. When you are chanting the psalms, if someone makes a mistake in some word, do not immediately correct him and trouble him. But if the word has passed, let it be no care to you. But if he has asked you to correct him, do it lovingly. If there is something at the table from which one of the brothers shrinks, let him not say that he cannot eat it, but let him force himself even to the point of death, and God will console him. If you do some work together, and one of you with a faint heart suggests desisting from it, do not rebuke him, but rejoice together. If any brothers turn aside to you, do not question them about useless matters, otherwise they will leave the service among you. But if any of them cannot restrain himself from saying something useless and pernicious to one of you, he who hears it should not disclose the matter to the remaining brothers, lest the deadly poison kill their souls. If necessity compels you to travel abroad, do not inquire about anything that cannot benefit you, so that you may return to your cell unharmed. But if you have heard something of the sort, even against your will, upon returning home, do not report it to the brothers. C If you are a guest in a foreign region, to whatever place you come, behave with no arrogance, so that by your modest silence the inhabitants may receive fruit from you. For the infirm, on account of the weakness of their heart, are easily offended, because they do not perceive their own sins.
II. Divine help and hope, gentleness and a good conscience, and the denial of one’s own will in all things, are signs of humility. Arrogance, however, and contention, and the esteem of oneself, and the despising of one's brother, and when someone, because he is afflicted and troubled on his account, says: "What is that to me? What business have I with him?"—all these things declare the hardness of a heart. D If you are doing work and a brother enters your cell, beware lest such a thought occupy your mind, that you have worked more than him. If you are working with a weaker brother, do not contend, so that you appear to have done more than he. If you perform some common work, apply yourself to it with all your strength, so that you do not care to know what you and your brother have worked during the week; for it is foolish to inquire into this. If you go out with the brothers to do work, do not desire that they should know that you have labored more than anyone: for the work that a man does in secret, God beholds. If your brother answers you somewhat bitterly, receive it with joy. For if you examine your thoughts according to the upright judgment of God, you will notice that you have sinned. If you live with the brothers, and your spirit urges you to live more strictly, say to your soul: "This brother is weak; he is my master." But if you have decided to live altogether more temperately, choose a cell for yourself separately, and do not afflict your weak brother. If some brother, a stranger, whom you have known to struggle with some vice, turns aside among you, do not examine him with words, unless his vice manifests itself, but beware lest you do something by which, if the brother comes to know it, he is afflicted. If you are in need of something, do not be angry with your brother because he did not freely provide it for you; but with confidence and simplicity ask him to give you the necessary thing. For this is holy purity in the heart; for if you do not disclose it to him, but in your heart you are angry with murmuring, you constitute judgment for yourself. If a conversation falls among you about some passage of Scripture, he to whom that passage is known should modestly and kindly declare it to his brother. For that is the highest knowledge of Scripture, that you show yourself humble to your brother. Consider that judgment at which you are to stand, and take pains, lest you be found dumb there, and cannot find any defense in that fearful hour.
III. As for things of the world, inquire not too curiously; do not be like latrines, to which men come to deposit the burdens of their bellies, and thus become full of stench. But be rather the temples and altars of God in holiness, where incense is burned morning and evening. Never let this altar be without incense. Always be in the sight of God, beseeching Him, and giving thanks with simplicity and sincerity, that God may accept from you those things which, through the craftiness and wisdom of the demons...
A, and curiosity, and excessive self-love, are contrary to the malice of the heart. For those who are entangled in these labor in vain, and their end is destruction; but he who fears God and listens to his conscience will shrink from all these things. But the head of the house is away; the wretched man has a house built upon his own will, and he speaks what he does not want in himself, because he does not have his heart in his own power, but in the hand of the enemy.
If you wish to go out to work, let no one despise another, nor leave his brother, so that he may be pricked by his conscience in his cell. But let him address him lovingly, saying: "Do you wish for us to go out?" But if he sees his brother at that time less tranquil, or weak in body, let him not contend that they must depart then, but let him wait a little, and return to his cell with charity. Beware lest in any matter you act against your brothers, lest you disturb them. If someone lives with his father or his spiritual brother, let him have no commerce with outsiders: for this is peace and subjection. If you live with your father or your brother, do not enter into secret friendship with anyone, nor write letters secretly to anyone, because you wish to hide it from those with whom you live; otherwise you will destroy both yourself and them. If you live with a superior, do not do a favor to a poor person secretly and without his knowledge. Do not seek advice after the fact, but consult about those things which stimulate you in the present; whether you are thinking about migrating, or wish to learn a work or to stop one, or to leave with some people, ask for advice boldly before you embark on the matter itself. Reveal the sickness of your soul, or the diseases of your body, or their causes, and reveal them in such a way, not as if you appear whole, but wounded, if you wish to receive the medicine for your wound. But if you reveal your thoughts, do not pretend, nor say one thing instead of another, nor consult as if about someone else, but bring forth the truth, and so prepare yourself to perform what you are told; otherwise, you will not deceive the elders whom you consult, but yourself.
IV. If you seek counsel from the elders against the onslaughts of temptations, do not listen to those who speak to you more things inside than the elders do. But pray to God that He may show you His mercy, and admonish the elders to counsel you in ways that are pleasing to them. Then do what the elders have told you, and God will console you. If you live with brothers and do not find tranquility, either because of the work, or because of the bonds; or because you cannot carry the burden, or because of acedia, or because you cannot endure the yoke, or because you cannot do your own will, or because you lack necessities, or because you wish to bind yourself B to a stricter discipline and to chastise yourself more vehemently, or for any other reason your spirit moves you to depart, guard against doing so rashly, nor throw off the yoke, and leave with sadness, or flee secretly with affliction, forgetting the fraternity, when an offense intercedes, and you cloak it with a veil of malice; but rather observe a time of peace and tranquility, so that your spirit, wherever you may be, may find rest. Ascribe the blame to yourself, and not to the brothers with whom you have lived. Do not listen to the enemy who persuades you to pretend that you have been treated with injury by the brothers from whom you received a benefit, so that you may flee infamy and cover your own shame with their ignominy, and so become a slave of the enemy wherever you live. If you move somewhere to live, do not so quickly decide that you must dwell in a cell, unless you first consider the nature of the place, lest by chance you find a stumbling block there, whether because of anxiety, or the sight of someone, or because of glory, or because of the greatness of the labor, or because of the offense of friends—although if you are wise, you will know everything in a few days—whence either death or life may come to you.
V. If you have granted your cell to a brother to live in for a few days, do not consider him subject to you. If you yourself have received the cell of another to live in for a few days, do not tear down or build anything in it without the permission of the one who loaned it to you. If you live with someone or travel abroad, and you receive a command from him, beware for the sake of God not to despise it, nor to depart from that command either secretly or openly. If you have prescribed for yourself in your cell that you should eat at some set hour, or abstain from some food, beware when you travel abroad, at someone's table, from saying: "Forgive me, I do not eat this food." For thus your vanity would cast your labors into the hands of your enemies. For the Lord commands that we do these things in secret, because our Father will repay us in public. He who loves his works, let him guard them, lest they perish. If you live in the same communal dwelling, and you are doing some work inside or outside, your brother calls you; do not say: "Wait a little, while I finish the work," but obey immediately. When you are doing some work together, if you notice a mistake of someone else's, do not report it to others, or speak of it with your mouth so that you tell the brothers; for that is the death of your soul. If brothers live with you, when they are tired from working, before the set time of eating, make sure they take food and rest. Use the judgment of God, and not your own. Whatever you do, place God before your eyes. If you have granted C someone a place to live, whether alone or with those who were there before you, and you see there a craftsman, or works that bring detriment or are less convenient for a monk, do not open your mouth to rebuke; but if you do not find tranquility, go elsewhere, and restrain your tongue, lest you speak evil; for that is death to you. If you are infirm, and prone to vices, do not allow anyone to communicate their own wicked thoughts to you as if to a faithful person; for that matter is pernicious to your soul. If a conversation arises among you that moves to laughter, beware lest you allow your voice to be heard; for where there is no discipline, nor fear of God, nor interior custody of the soul, there laughter is more unrestrained.
VI. Since the divine wrath in our days has invaded the orb of the earth, do not be terrified if you hear anything horrendous; but consider among yourselves: What
are these things, if compared with those into which, on account of our sins, we shall fall unless we repent? Love one another for the sake of God. If you keep these things in simplicity, you will reach the rest of the Son of God with joy; but if you depart from them, you will labor in vain here; and when you depart from this body, you will be seized for eternal punishment, as the Scriptures testify. For because of these things which we have commemorated, our Lord Jesus Christ came. But the hardness of our heart blinds us, because we follow our own will and prefer it to God Himself. For we do not love Him, but our own pleasures. And I have been compelled to write these things to you, because the former things were not enough. Love one another, therefore, and do not remain uncircumcised in your hearts. Spend these few days of life rightly with humility, and peace, and patience, cutting off your own will in charity. But if you do not observe these things, and there is among you zeal, and strife, and contention, and pride, and indignation, and suspicion, and disobedience, you are wasting time, and without doubt, when you depart from here, you will incur eternal punishments. Love, therefore, your brethren in holy charity, and guard your tongue, lest it rashly pronounce words by which you offend us. Our Lord God can bestow grace upon us, so that by doing good works we may obtain His mercy with all the saints who have pleased Him: for His is the glory, and honor, and adoration now and forever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
ORATION VI.
Those who wish to embrace honest quietude should not be curious, nor should they waste time on useless things, having neglected the consideration of their own sins.
1. He who searches the Scriptures with curiosity finds enmity and contention; but he who mourns his own sins finds peace and tranquility. A monk who sits in his cell, and—having put aside the consideration of his own sins—is curious in scrutinizing Scripture, walks in error. Whoever, before he possesses himself, occupies himself with little questions about why Scripture speaks thus or so, labors under the vice of curiosity. But he who stays awake so as not to be caught by sins, he assiduously casts himself as a suppliant in the sight of God. He who seeks a likeness in God, blasphemes God. He who strives to venerate God, embraces holiness in his fear of Him. He who guards and keeps the words of God, he knows God. Do not seek what is sublime in God while you implore His aid, so that He may come and save you from sin. The gifts of God come of their own accord if they find a place that is pure and chaste. He who relies on his own cognition and follows his own will, he fosters enmity within himself, and cannot be of that Spirit who brings forth contrition of heart. He who looks at the words of Scripture and keeps them according to his own sense A and strives obstinately that they be understood in that way, he is ignorant of the glory of God and His riches. But he who looks at them in such a way as to say: "I do not know, for I am a man," and gives glory to God, in him the riches of God dwell. Do not disclose your thoughts to just anyone, but only to your fathers, lest you bring sadness into your heart. Guard your tongue, that your neighbor may be in honor with you. Discipline your tongue in the words of God, and falsehood will flee from you. The desire for human glory begets falsehood. But the study of humility makes the fear of God greater in the heart. Do not covet the friendship of those who are distinguished by glory in the world, lest you extinguish the glory of God in your heart. If anyone detracts from his brother, and slanders him, and shows malice, do not open your ears to him, lest things you do not wish to hear take hold of you.
B An upright heart keeps itself pure from evil. He who walks cunningly with his brother will not escape the sadness of the soul. He who has one thing in his heart and another thing ready on his tongue, his sacrifices are vain. Do not associate with such men, lest you be sprinkled with their poison. Walk with upright and holy men, that you may become a partaker of their probity and holiness. Do not serve hatred against anyone in your mind, otherwise you will render your labors vain and empty. Let your heart be upright and benevolent toward all, that you may find the peace of God within you. Just as poison is diffused through the whole body of one who has been bitten by a scorpion, and penetrates even to the heart; so he whom hatred occupies is suffused with poison, and his soul is wounded by it. Whoever, therefore, strives that his labors and works may not quickly perish, will turn far away from himself the scorpion, that is, hatred and wickedness. From this plague, may the kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ free us, whose is the glory and adoration unto ages of ages. Amen.
Oration VII. On the virtues.
I. There are three virtues C which always look out for the mind, and are necessary for it: impulse according to nature, and fortitude, and diligence. There are three virtues which, if the mind should see them within itself, it believes it has arrived close to happiness: to distinguish one thing from another, to foresee all things before the time, and to be moved by no external things. There are three virtues which provide light to the mind assiduously: not to know the malice of any man whatsoever, to do good to those by whom we have been affected with injury, and to bear whatever happens without disturbance. These three virtues bring forth three others greater than themselves: not to know the malice of man begets benevolence; to do good to those by whom we are affected with injury generates peace; to bear whatever happens without disturbance produces meekness. D
Four virtues render the holy soul: silence, observance of the commandments, poverty, and humility. The mind always has need of these four virtues: to pray to God assiduously, to prostrate itself in the sight of God, to judge no one, and to be deaf to clamorous perturbations. A Four virtues protect the soul and make it breathe from the terror of enemies: mercy, meekness, long-suffering, and forgetfulness of injuries. Four virtues assist youth before God: assiduous meditation, and diligence, and vigilance, and a humble estimation of oneself. Four things defile the soul: living in the city, not guarding the eyes, using the familiarity of women, following the friendship of those who are glorious in the world, and loving the company of those joined to us by blood.
Four things, by which lust is stirred in the body: sleep unto satiety, an abundance of food, the urbanity of pleasantries, and the delights of clothing. Four things, which cast darkness upon the mind: hatred, contempt, emulation, and suspicion. Four things, by which the soul is rendered desolate: transit from place to place, occupation with business, the love of earthly things, and avarice. Four things, by which we are incited to anger: when we do not attain what we desire, when we embrace our own will, when we accept the office of teaching, and consider ourselves wise. Three things conserve all virtues, but are difficult to prepare: contrition of heart, mourning for sins, and the assiduous meditation on death. B Three things dominate the soul before it arrives at a great measure, and these do not allow the virtues to dwell in the mind: captivity, sloth, and forgetfulness. For forgetfulness fights with man and attempts to suppress all his good thoughts, and so brings the occasion for all evils, and daily destroys those things which are built by man.
II. You observe the works of the new man and the old. Whoever loves his soul, that he may not lose it, keeps the things that belong to the new man. But whoever seeks rest in this short span of life, embraces the things that belong to the old man, but loses his soul. For our Lord Jesus Christ, showing the new man in his body, said: He who loves his soul will lose it; but he who has lost it for my sake will find it. For he himself is the Lord of peace, and through him the middle wall of enmity has been destroyed; and he says: I have not come to bring peace, but a sword; and again: I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and what do I wish if it be already kindled? This is that fire of his divinity, which has burned in the souls of those who have followed his holy doctrine. Then they found the sword of the spirit, and cut off all the pleasures of the flesh. And afterwards he gave them joy, saying: My peace I give to you, my peace I leave with you.
C Behold those who have striven to liberate their souls, circumcising their own wills, have become his holy sheep for sacrifice. And when he shall appear in the glory of his divinity, he will call them to his right hand: Come, he says, blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat, and what follows. Behold those who lose their souls in this short course of life, how they find them in the time of necessity, and will receive rewards far greater than they expected. But those who, indulging their own wills, preserve their souls in this world prone to sin, and defend themselves with the vanity of their riches, and do not observe the commandments of God, but think that they will live perpetually in this world; in the day of judgment, they will recognize the ugliness of their blindness, and will become the wretchedly cursed, and will hear the fearful sentence of the judge saying: Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you did not give me to eat, and the rest. Then their mouth will be obstructed, and they will have nothing to answer. For even if they say: Lord, when did we see you hungry, and did not minister to you? they will be refuted thus: He who did good to one of these who believe in me, did it to me.
D III. Let us each examine ourselves, most beloved, and consider whether we have observed his commandments according to our strength, or not. For we are all debtors to observe them according to our strength, the small according to his smallness, and the great according to his greatness. For those who were contributing gifts into the treasury were rich: yet the Lord rejoiced more in the widow’s two mites, he who looks upon the intention of our mind. Let no sloth find a place in our hearts, lest envy separate us from God. But let us execute our ministries according to our strength. For just as he showed his mercy to the daughter of the archisynagogue, recalling her to life; and as he had mercy on that woman who was suffering from a flux of blood, and who, before she knew Christ, had consumed all her faculties on physicians; and as he cured the centurion’s son, who had believed in him; and as he had mercy on the Canaanite woman in the healing of her daughter, and recalled his friend Lazarus to life: so he moved with pity by her tears, raised the only son of the poor widow; and as he did not spurn Mary who anointed his feet with ointment and wiped them with her tears: so he did not despise the sinner who was anointing his feet with ointment. And as he called Peter and John from their boat, saying, Follow me; so he called Matthew sitting at the tax office. And as he washed the feet of the disciples, so he washed Judas also without any discrimination. And as the Spirit the Paraclete came upon the apostles, so he came also upon Cornelius. And as on account of Paul
A he used the work of Ananias at Damascus; for he is, he says, a vessel of election unto me; so in Samaria, because of the Ethiopian eunuch, he used the work of Philip. For there is no respect of persons in his sight, no difference between the small and the great, between the poor and the rich. He looks to the intent of the mind, and faith toward himself, and the observance of his commandments, and love toward all. For this is the sign and mark of the mind, when it has departed from the body. In this, he says, all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another.
IV. Those adversaries, when they see this mark of love impressed, will depart from them with fear, but all the choirs of angels will rejoice with them. With all our strength, therefore, let us strive, most beloved brothers, so that we may attain it, lest our adversaries B overcome us. The Lord says, a city set on an hill cannot be hid. Of what mountain does he speak, if not of his own word, when he says: If anyone loves me, he will keep my commandments? Let us diligently apply ourselves to this zeal, that we may keep his word. And our labors will be as a strong and fortified city, which, until we ourselves meet him, will guard us from all our enemies. For if we are fortified with this confidence, all his enemies will be dissipated by the mountain of his word itself. From this mountain, the stone cut without hands shattered the statue built of gold and silver, and bronze, and iron. Put on, says the Apostle, the armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the deceits of the devil. For we have C no wrestling against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places. The fourfold statue, which the stone, that is, the Word of God, shattered, as it is written, signifies these four principalities; and it grew into a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. Let us flee to this mountain, most beloved brothers, so that it may be a refuge for us and save us from those four wicked dominions, and that we might also receive joy with all his saints who are gathered to him from the four corners of the earth. For each will hear his own blessedness according to his works. Furthermore, his holy name is powerful, if it be with us, to strengthen us for his work, and not allow us to be deceived by the enemy, but to guard and fortify us, so that we may be able to endure whatever happens to us, and to find mercy with those who have been made worthy to enjoy true blessedness. To God the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit be glory, and honor, and worship, now and always, and for ever and ever. Amen.
ORATION VIII
The Apophthegmata of the blessed Abbot Isaias. 1. Some time ago, the Abbot Isaias says, I find myself like a horse without a rider, which, once found, is mounted, and then, released by him, another D catches and mounts it. But at other times, he says, I am like a man whom enemies have seized and thrown bound into a pit of mud. If he cries out to his master, he is beaten by them, so that he stays silent. Likewise, he says, I am like a sparrow whose foot is bound by a snare; while it thinks it is free and lifts itself up in flight, it is held back by the snare. For there is no one who is not oppressed by some anxiety even to the very last breath. Likewise, he says, if you have lent something to anyone, and do not ask for it back, you imitate the nature of Jesus; if you ask for it back, [you imitate] the nature of Adam; but if you demand interest, the perverse custom of the same. If anyone reproaches you for some matter which you either did or did not do: if you are silent, you show yourself like Jesus; but if you answer: Why, he says, did I do it? you are no longer like him. But if you return like for like, you are entirely unlike. If you take away your sacrifice with humility, as if you were unworthy, it is pleasing before God; but if you are exalted in your heart, and remember another who is sleeping or negligent, your labor is in vain. He was accustomed to say that humility does not have a tongue, with which it might speak about anyone as negligent or proud; nor eyes, with which it might look upon the errors of others; nor ears, with which it might hear those things that would not profit its soul; and in short, that it has nothing to do except with its own sins. For with everyone, peace exists, not for the sake of friendship, but on account of the commandment of God. But if anyone occupies himself without humility, or with fastings, or afflicts himself vehemently, or tries to keep the commandments; his labors are in vain. If anyone, he says, possesses a tool, and does not find it at the time it is necessary, he possesses it in vain. Such is he, who asserts that he fears God; and when the time is present to show the fear of God, by which he might be restrained from anger, arrogance, or ambition, or some other vice, he does not find the fear of God; all the endeavors of such a person are in vain.II. Our Lord Jesus Christ did not ascend the cross until he had cured all human infirmities, so that he might declare with what purpose he had imbued humanity. For before he himself came in the flesh, man was blind, and mute, and deaf, and paralyzed, and leprous, and lame, and dead in all the vices contrary to nature: but after he had undertaken the human pilgrimage for us, he showed his mercy, raised the dead, made the lame walk, and the blind see, and the mute speak, and the deaf hear, and established a new man, free from all infirmity. Furthermore, lifted onto the cross, he took with him two thieves, of whom the one who was at his right hand praised him and prayed: Remember me, he says, Lord, when you come into your kingdom. But the other, who was on the left...
was near A to him and attacked him with curses. The mind, before it recovers from its negligence, is with the enemy; but if our Lord Jesus Christ has stirred it up from its negligence, and has given it the ability to judge everything, then it will be able to ascend the cross. And if, through the slandering enemy, it has returned to its negligence, that will happen which was spoken of the two thieves whom our Lord Jesus Christ separated from their mutual benevolence: of whom one blasphemed him, but the other prayed in such a way that he deserved to hear: Today you shall be with me in paradise. [sup]a[/sup] This is that thief who even stole paradise and ate from the tree of life.
III. The same person said again concerning holy communion that it is its office to join and unite us with God. Since this is so, where, he asks, is that union? We are far removed from God if we are overcome by anger, or jealousy, or hatred, or ambition, or vainglory, or other vices. The same person says: When we pray and some perturbation of this kind thrives in our heart, our labor is vain and in no way pleasing to God himself. Why then, a certain one of the elders responded, did he not answer at that time in a familiar way: When it rains upon the ground in which there is seed, it germinates; but if it has no seed, it does not germinate. Let everyone, therefore, strive to cast out evil seeds from his heart, lest they spring up. God wishes man to be like unto himself in all things. Therefore he came into the world and suffered, that he might change the depraved nature of man, and cut away our wills, and expel the false cognition which occupies our souls. For other animals have preserved their own nature; but man has changed his nature. Wherefore, just as beasts are subject to man, so every one ought to be subject to his neighbor for God's sake. For it is for this that the Lord came. See how much beasts excel men who rely on their own knowledge. If I wish to return to my nature, just as beasts are open to another's will, so must I do, not only with my family, but even with my adversaries. For this is the will of God. He who wishes to enjoy the quiet of his cell, B and not be overcome by the enemy, let him withdraw from the company of men, lest he disparage or praise anyone or deem them blessed, or boast of his own righteousness or offend anyone, but let him attend to himself, and not leave the sting of an enemy's thought in his heart. Do not open your mind to the ignorant, nor reveal your will to the imprudent. Know yourself, and beware of those things that are pernicious to you. He who, trusting in his own righteousness, embraces his own will, can neither escape the snares of the enemy, nor find peace, nor understand what he lacks, nor, when he departs from the body, obtain mercy. This is the sum of all things: that you should have all your hopes placed in God, and flee to him with your whole heart and all your strength, and be merciful toward all, and mourn for your own sins, and implore God’s help and mercy.
IV. But as regards teaching one's neighbor the commandments of God, whence, he says, can I know that I am pleasing to God, so that I might dare to prescribe that this or that should be done by another, when I myself still bewail my sins? For he who has once fallen ought to mourn, nor is he safe until he knows he has obtained forgiveness. Man indeed sins; but God shows mercy. Your heart cannot be secure before you approach the judgment of God. But if you desire to understand whether your sins have been forgiven, that is a great proof, if nothing of them remains any longer in your heart. But if they are still alive, and are set in motion by memory, and you do not care much about that, it is a bad sign. Mourn, therefore, and grieve and tremble, until you obtain mercy from God. If anyone wishes to be taught by you, yet does not do the things that you earnestly urge upon him, but repeatedly returns asking the same thing, turn away from him. God teaches all who wish to hear. Who taught Cain and Abel to do this, C and to abstain from that, when the law had not yet been written? In vain does a man labor in learning who does not have God for a teacher. If anyone utters useless words, do not listen, lest you lose your soul. But if he is offended by this, do not let it be your concern. Say: My soul cannot bear these things, cease them, I beg you; for I am not greater than that first man whom God formed with his own hands, and who was corrupted by depraved conversations. Flee, therefore, and do not listen; but flee in such a way that you thoroughly forget what is being said: for if you permit anything to remain in your memory, the demons will by no means neglect it, but will kill your soul.
V. The same one said: How much, he says, do gain, and honor, and leisure fight against man even unto death. He who arrogates to himself the task of teaching others harms his own soul, and while he professes to correct his neighbor and build up his house, he constructs ruin and destruction for himself. Beware that you do not, by sinning, defile the innocence which you received in baptism. For whether you sin against your own body, or bind yourself to theft, or look upon something too greedily, or taste something secretly, fearing lest anyone see you, or possess something more elegant or precious in secret, you are inflicting an insult upon the Son of God. Are these things of such importance, someone asks, O Father! To whom he replies: Just as he who has stolen money by digging through a wall has been deceived by the devil; so it is with him who does this; for he who defeated the other, also defeats this one; and he who is conquered D in small matters is also overcome in great ones. If anyone, he says, has performed great virtues and healings, and has had all knowledge and raised the dead, and has afflicted his own body, yet has seen someone involved in all manner of sins, and has despised him, those things will profit him nothing, because he has forgotten Christ's mem-
- A ory; and he himself judges, nor does he entrust himself to the judgment of God.
VI. He used to say that we are all as if in a physician’s workshop, where one suffers from eyes, another from hands, another from a fistula, another from some other ailment; and although some wounds are already healed, yet if you do not refrain from contrary foods, they break out again; so he who applies himself to penance, when he judges or despises another, renews the sickness of his own soul. Each one's disease, therefore, must be cured; each one's sins are to be mourned, but others are not to be despised. Woe to that soul which does not abhor every sin! When the people of Israel were in Egypt, they ate and drank abundantly, but they were oppressed by the servitude of Pharaoh; but when God sent them help through Moses, that they might be freed from servitude, then they were afflicted with labors; nor did Moses trust that this would happen, even though Pharaoh was afflicted with various plagues, until that time arrived when God said to him: *Yet one plague remains, and soon Pharaoh will let my people go. For I will strike every firstborn.* B And God said to Moses: *You shall tell the whole congregation that a man should ask from his friend, and a woman from her neighbor, articles of silver and gold, and much clothing*. He said, therefore, that he had heard from the elders that the articles of silver and gold, and the clothing, signify the senses which serve the enemy. Unless a man wrings these from the enemy, and makes them bring forth fruit to God, he cannot arrive at true rest. God did not overshadow the tabernacle while it was imperfect, but when it was absolute, then He overshadowed it. So also the cloud did not overshadow the temple as long as anything was wanting to it; but when it was perfect, holocausts were offered, and God smelled an odor of sweetness. Unless a man has loved God with all his strength and with all his mind, and has been joined to Him with his whole heart, God does not rest upon him. If a man, he says, wishes to ascend the cross before he tames his senses, he provokes the wrath of God. For he attempts something greater than his own strength. If evil thoughts pollute you, and you do not grieve in your heart, but cherish them from where they proceed, you imitate the old Adam. If you apply yourself to that effort, so that you overcome sin, by afflicting yourself, and removing all occasions, and imploring the aid of God: Yours, O Lord, he says, is the mercy, that You may set me free; for I, without Your help, cannot escape the hands of my enemies; if you do these things, and diligently endeavor not to offend those who instruct you in God according to God, you imitate the nature of Jesus. And He Himself will keep you from all evil. For His is the glory and empire for ever and ever. Amen.
ORATION IX.
To those who have renounced the world.
I. If you have renounced the world, and have dedicated yourself to God through penitence, do not allow yourself to be afflicted A with the recognition of old sins as if you have not obtained pardon. Nor again should you despise His commandments, and return to the same sins. Until death keep the divine commandments, and never despise them. Do not take food with women, nor let familiarity exist between you and the juniors. Do not sleep in the same bed with anyone. Respect yourself also while you are alone, while you dress or undress. If necessity presses, drink up to the third cup of wine. Beware of crossing this measure for the sake of friendship. Do not inhabit the place where by sinning you offended God. Do not remit the study of prayer, lest you fall into the hands of your enemies. Apply yourself to the meditation of the psalms; for it will keep you in innocence. Embrace bodily afflictions, and vices will be repressed. Beware of pleasing yourself in any matter. Weep constantly for your sins. Abhor lying; for it will expel the fear of God from you. Do not disclose your thoughts in the sight of all, lest you be a stumbling block to your neighbor. Open your thoughts to your fathers, that the grace of God may protect you. Exercise your hands in work and labor, and the fear of God will dwell with you. If you see your brother's sin *not unto death*, do not despise him, lest you fall into the hands of your enemy. Do not take delight in the memory of those things which you have committed, lest your sins be renewed in you.
II. Embrace humility, and it will protect you from your sins. Do not be contentious, lest all wickedness dwell in you. Do not be wise in your own eyes, lest you fall into the hands of your enemies. Incline your heart, that it may willingly obey your Fathers; and the grace of God will dwell in you. Accustom your tongue to say: Grant me pardon, forgive me; and humility will come to you. While you reside in your cell, devote yourself assiduously to these three things: prayer, meditation, and the labor of your hands. Live in such a way that you spend each day as if it were your last, and you will not sin. Do not indulge your belly, lest former sins be renewed in you. In every place and work, avoid sloth, lest the power of your enemies crush you. Meditate assiduously on the things of God, and God will rest in you. As a house outside a city that is pulled down becomes a foul-smelling place, so the soul of a lazy monk becomes a dwelling place of vices. Apply yourself to prayer with tears, that the mercy of God may strip away the old man burdened with sins. Labor, and poverty, and hospitality, and affliction, and silence beget humility. Humility, indeed, obtains pardon for all sins. However, the benignity of our Lord and God can so strengthen us that, knowing and doing His will, we may find mercy with all the saints who have obeyed His commandments. Amen.
Oration X. On the same subject.
To the holy apostle Peter, God manifested that no one ought to be judged common or unclean. He whose heart is pure considers all men pure; but he who has a heart defiled by vices considers no one pure, but judges all to be like himself: for if someone were to say that a certain man is a good man, he immediately grows angry in his heart. Beware, therefore, lest you disparage anyone, either openly or in your mind. The more negligently a man examines himself, the more he judges himself to be a friend of God. But he who strives to purge himself from vices and perturbations blushes to lift his eyes to heaven in the presence of God, for he perceives that he is as far from Him as possible. A certain man had two servants, and he sent them into his field to reap wheat, and he ordered that they should each reap seven acres in one day. The one of them gave his total effort to doing the master's commands, but nevertheless was not able to finish the work, because it exceeded his strength; the other, however, gave himself over to idleness. "Who," he said to himself, "could finish such work in a single day?" Neglecting therefore the orders, he was afflicted with anxiety, but now sleeping, now dozing, now tossing himself about, as a door is turned on its hinge, he consumed the day in vain. When evening had arrived, they returned to the master. When he understood the labor of the diligent servant, even though the whole work had not been completed by him, he nevertheless praised the man; but the other, as an idle and slothful despiser, he ordered to be punished and cast out of his house. Let us, likewise, labor in every work and affliction diligently and with all our strength; and God will undoubtedly receive us with His saints. A man ought to pour out prayers assiduously in the presence of God with great humility of heart and affliction of body, nor should he take pleasure in any of his works, nor be puffed up by human praises, nor be depressed by insults, but frequently remember his own sins. For thus the heart will rest from its enemies. Let no bitter word go forth from your mouth. Do not praise anyone to their face, nor ever disparage them anywhere. Diligently close and guard all the doors of the soul, that is, the senses, lest it wander through them, or worldly words be brought to it. Blessed is he who continually mourns his sins. Amen.
ORATION XI. On the mustard seed.
A great mystery is contained in a small grain of mustard, just as the Fathers have said, and therefore it is written for our instruction: "The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; which is the smallest of all seeds; but when it has grown, it is greater than all herbs; and it becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and dwell in its branches." Since these things are so, it is fitting that we should imitate the properties of this grain. For since it states that it is the smallest of all seeds, it shows that humility is to be embraced by us, so that with meekness and patience we may prefer all men to ourselves. The blush in it signifies modesty and chastity, that we may not admit any disgrace into our conduct. The sharp power in it indicates hatred toward vices and the vanities of the world. That its power is not evident, however, unless it is handled and crushed, demonstrates that virtue profits nothing unless action proceeds and follows from labor and use and exercise. It is also valid for preserving bodies, so that they do not rot or stink. Therefore, let us sprinkle our loose and dead wills with this grain which is like the kingdom of heaven, which is Christ, so that they do not rot and teem with worms. For this reason the Lord Jesus became man, that we might not be anxious, so that we are not distracted by worldly cares, but imitate Him to the best of our ability. By the standard of this grain, let us examine ourselves; let us see whether we are like it in humility of heart, meekness of soul, and the ardor of charity. May the Lord Jesus Himself strengthen us with His mercy, that we may obey His will, for His is the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
ORATIO XII. De vino.
The mystery of wine and human nature is understood in this way. We ought to keep our heart whole with all holiness, if we wish that God should dwell in it with joy. Unless a jar is daubed with pitch on all sides and has no cracks, the wine cannot be contained; unless the heart is fortified by humility and chastity and has no cracks of vices, it cannot be the dwelling-place of God. For it cannot be that a person serves God and pleasures at the same time. Let us take diligent care that there is no hatred or enmity in our heart: for these keep a man from true repentance, so that he cannot please God. Wine is hot at the beginning; such also is adolescence: little by little the wine relinquishes its heat, and finally it settles; so the heat of adolescence is calmed by time, and finally it is established, while it is educated by the discipline of the Fathers, and we obey their precepts. Wine is not brought into a cellar unless it first settles, nor is he admitted into the company of others whose constancy has not been tested by various means beforehand. If wine is left in the vats, it turns sour: so also an adolescent, if he is permitted to associate with those who are related to him by blood, or at any rate are alien to his principles, corrupts the discipline handed down by the Fathers and good morals. Unless wine is stored in deep and underground places, it vanishes: so all the labors of adolescence are vain unless they are preserved in humility. Wine, which is moved and tasted repeatedly, becomes worse: so also a man who frequently exhibits his studies and actions in vain glory loses his perfection. If the mouth of the jar remains open, gnats enter in and corrupt the wine: the same happens with talkativeness and witty and empty conversations. Wine exposed to the winds loses its grace: and pride leads to ruin.
of the fruit of man. Wine rests in places deep and hidden, and is covered: so he who cultivates virtue rests in silence, and governs his efforts with labor.
These things are all observed in wine, so that it may please its master; everyone ought to guard all these things, so that he may please God. Furthermore, just as one does not trust wine, as to what it may be, unless it is drawn and tasted: so a man ought not to trust in himself, but to live in fear, until he meets God, by whom his works are approved. And just as if there is any tiny crack in a cask, the wine flows out before the master knows, if he is negligent: so any matter, however small, shakes out the fruit of a negligent man. Let us therefore strive, brothers, to beware of all offenses and sins, so that God may grant us His mercy and grace on the day of judgment: which He will surely do, if we have observed His commandments according to the strength of our weakness. But Thine, O Lord, are power, and mercy, and help, and protection, and forgiveness, and patience. For who am I in the hand of the evils from which Thou hast delivered me? I have nothing that I can give Thee. I am a sinner, and unworthy of all Thy gifts. Thou hast snatched me from the hands of my enemies. Thou art my Lord, and my God. Thine is glory, and mercy, and defense, and protection, and kingdom for ever and ever. Amen.
ORATION XIII. Admonition to those who are being initiated and tending toward perfection.
I. These are the signs which the Lord Jesus did, before He ascended upon the cross. Go, He says, report to John what you have heard and seen: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the dead rise again, the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. He who has his hope placed in this world is blind. And if, having put aside this hope, he directs his mind to those things which are expected in the other life, he receives his sight. He is lame who loves this world; but if, having neglected it, he loves God and contemns the flesh, he walks uprightly. He is deaf who, distracted by vain occupations, does not attend to divine things; but if, having left everything behind, he takes hold of the precepts of God, he now has heard. He who pursues his neighbor with hatred, or envy, or rivalry, or curses, is a leper; and for that reason, as of old the lepers, he is to be kept away from the altar; but if he has driven away such vices, he will be clean. If, therefore, the blind man looks, the lame man walks, the deaf man hears, and the leper is cleansed; the man who was dead in these vices during the time of negligence is recalled to life, and becomes a new man; and henceforth he has the gospel preached to him, whereas before he was poor in senses, lacking the riches of virtues; and these things are renounced to him by the one by whom he was baptized.
II. Baptism is affliction with humility and silence. For John, as it is written, had a garment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle was about his loins, and he lived in the desert: which is a A sign of affliction and of penance, which cleanses a man, and renders him such that he is ready to ascend upon the cross. But the cross is the judgment of future immortality; but it is necessary first that it close the mouths of the Pharisees and Sadducees. The Sadducees represent the figure of infidelity and obstinacy; the Pharisees, however, of malice and hypocrisy and vainglory. For it is written: And no man from that day dared any more to ask Jesus. Afterward He sent Peter and John, that they might prepare the Pasch. For when the mind has seen itself bound by no vices, it is prepared for immortality, and directs its senses toward the same, and holds them united with itself. But Jesus prayed, saying: My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me in this hour. Which is a document for us, that, when the mind wishes to ascend upon the cross, it should lean heavily upon prayer and tears, and always suppliant should prostrate itself in the sight of God, imploring the help of His kindness, so that it may be strengthened and guarded, until it rises in holy and invincible newness. For at the time of the cross a great danger threatens. But when it prays, it ought to employ Peter and John and James as companions, that is to say, entire faith, constant hope, and ardent charity.
III. And these things indeed our beloved Lord and God Jesus Christ did and bore for us, and was an example for us in all things, that, as the Apostle says, we may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and be conformed to His death, C so that we might meet in the resurrection of the dead. He Himself tasted gall for us, so that we might cast away every wicked desire, and block our mouth, and not allow it to come forth from it and be perfected. He tasted vinegar for us, so that we might extinguish all arrogance and perturbation. He was covered with spittle for us, so that we might despise the praises of the world and human glory. A crown of thorns was fixed upon His head for us, so that we, adorned with a crown of humility, might trample upon the pride of the enemy. But because Jesus was subjected to stripes before He was led to the cross, it is a document for us, so that we may bear all the insults and injuries of men with an equal mind. Now, that they divided His garments, drawing lots among themselves, we are admonished that we should make little of the loss of temporal things, and embrace the cross, taking the robbery of our goods with joy, as Paul says, since we have a better and abiding substance in the heavens.
These things a man must provide according to his strength, otherwise he will not ascend upon the cross with the Lord. Furthermore, since D at the sixth hour He was crucified for our salvation with such bitterness of heart, we ought to lay aside all sloth and dread, until sin dies, since, as it is written, by the cross…
A He slew the enmity within Him. For that at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, *Deus, Deus meus, quid dereliquisti me?*, He declares [this] to be ours, so that, after we have conquered the vices that bitterly afflict us, we may at length, with humility, cry out to God and assume [true] confidence. But as for the Lord yielding up His spirit when the sun was darkened, understand that then sin has died within you, when the hope of things visible in this world fails in your soul. And the veil of the temple was rent from the top even to the bottom : which signifies that if the mind has been liberated, the interval that lies between it and God will be removed. The rocks were rent, and the monuments opened, because through that death brought to us, every weight and blindness, and whatsoever presses upon our soul, are broken, and the senses, which were bringing forth fruit unto death, recover and are awakened, invincible. He was wrapped in clean linen and spices, that after His death we may rest in holiness and immortality. And they placed Him in a new monument, in which no one had yet been laid; and they rolled a great stone to the door of the monument B. When the mind, liberated from all the perturbations of this world, keeps the Sabbath, it is in a new monument, and meditates on things new and incorruptible. Where the body is, thither shall the eagles be gathered. He rose in the glory of His Father, and ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of majesty on high. It is ours, therefore, as the Apostle says, if we have risen with Christ, to seek those things which are above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God. Let us savor the things that are above, not those which are upon the earth. For we have died with Christ, who for His holy name shall show His mercy upon us; for He bore our infirmities, that He might blot out our sins, and place us in the number of His saints; who lives and reigns unto the ages of ages. Amen.
ORATION XIV
The mourning and lamentation of the blessed Abbot Isaias
C I. Woe is me, woe is me, for I am not yet free from the fire of Gehenna! Those who draw men to it are still at work within me: and all its works are stirred up in my heart. Those who strive to plunge me into the furnace act always in my heart, and wish to bring forth their fruits. It is not yet clear to me whither I am to depart from hence. The straight path is not yet prepared for me. I am not yet clearly liberated from the powers of the air, which attempt to rule over me through my evil deeds. I have not yet received my liberator, who came that He might deliver me from them. For their wickedness still flourishes within me. I do not yet foresee what confidence I can have before the Judge. I have no certainty whether I am to be punished with death or not. I have not yet been exempted from the number of the guilty. A defendant who is bound in prison does not rejoice. He who is constrained by iron chains D cannot [follow] his own will. He will not lead others, he who is held fettered. He who dwells in sorrows is not able to rest. He does not eat with pleasure, he about whose neck a noose has been cast. He does not think any further on how he might commit other crimes, but lives in mourning and sorrow on account of those by which he is bound, and for which he is deservedly tortured.
II. He who considers those extreme punishments, to which he is to be subjected because of his sins, does not have his mind occupied in judging others: the pain of his torments stirs his heart; the thought of his tortures does not allow him to be curious; he is not anxious about food. He does not reply to those by whom he is treated with railing; he bears all injuries with a patient mind, and deems himself worthy of them; laughter is far from him; with sighing and groaning for the formidable judgment in which he must stand, he remembers; if he hears anything, he does not notice whether it was said with praise or the contrary; the magnitude of his grief forces a huge abundance of tears from his eyes; if he was born of noble parents, he is saddened even more, because he must be seen in judgment by so many witnesses; among the people he does not consider who are good or who are evil: if others are led along in chains together with him, he does not attend to them, nor does he consult with them on what is to be done. For everyone bears his own burden. While he is being dragged to punishment, he keeps his eyes fixed upon the ground; no one dares to speak to him because of the fear of torments. He confesses himself those things which he has perpetrated, and why he is deservedly condemned.
III. As long, therefore, shall I be drunk without wine, and neglect these things which are before me? The dryness of my heart has parched my eyes. And my head is exhausted by the drunkenness of anxiety. The distraction of my mind has brought oblivion upon me until the hour of darkness. The necessity of the body has bound me; and destruction forces me to turn from the way. I have neither a friend who might speak for me; nor is there a gift for me to send to my fellow citizens. The report of the calamities by which I am afflicted makes it so that they do not acknowledge me. If I beseech them, they do not hear me. For they see that I am not yet freed from my sorrows. My heart finds no consolation. For the goad of sins pricks me without any intermission; and the burden of my iniquities grows heavy. Yet I do not fully fear the power of the fire, because I do not have it confirmed that I am to be cast into it. A clamor rings in my ears, that punishment is near at hand. The wounds that seemed to be healed are festering again in my body; nor have they yet rotted, such that I might seek a remedy. I cover my wounds, lest they be seen by men; and I cannot endure that a physician should treat them. He wishes to bring bitter remedies, but I do not permit it. The physician is good, and he requires no reward from me; and I am so sluggish, that I am loath to approach him. He himself comes of his own accord, that he may heal me; and he finds me in the act of consuming things that are contrary to my wounds. He urges me that I henceforth abstain; and he…
… A allows my old habit to hinder my compliance. In sum, I know not what to do. Mourn with me, all you my brothers, that the help of God may descend to me, greater than my own strength, that he may guide and teach me, since his is the kingdom, and the glory, now and forever, and unto all ages of ages. Amen.
ORATION XV.
On renunciation of the world.
1 Let us consider our reasoning, most beloved, since the time is short. He who is anxious about the body cannot be free in spirit. Just as no one can lift one eye to heaven and fix the other on the earth, so the mind cannot care for the things of God and the things of the world at the same time. You will blush to have been so anxious about things that do not profit you when you have gone forth from the body. Fear God, who gazes upon your thoughts. Consider it shameful to think secretly those things which you would blush to do in the presence of men. Just as a tree is known by its fruit, so the quality of a mind is understood from its thought. As long as you are open to sin, do not deem yourself free. He who enjoys true freedom does not linger in the meditation of those things which he has basely committed. Therefore, do not consider yourself free while you provoke the Lord to indignation. Freedom does not come because the mind desires something of the things that are in the world. Let this care occupy you: that you are about to rise again and give an account to God. Fear God, who is about to judge every single thing that you have done. You who are so worried B if the body is sick, that you may care for it: why do you not strive that it may be blessed in the resurrection? Daily, before you pour out prayers to God, consider within yourself by what vice you are overcome. Just as the earth cannot bear fruit without seed and water: so a man cannot perform penance without humility and the affliction of the body. By the breath of the surrounding and breathing air, germs flourish, and by the observance of the commandments, man flourishes. This observance is indeed a proof of faith in God. The fear of God keeps the conscience whole and tranquil. If, while you are dwelling in your cell, pleasure tickles your senses with lust, restrain the first impulses of thought, lest they seize you. Remember that God is present, whose eyes manifest even the secrets of the heart.[II.] Address your soul thus: If you are ashamed to be seen sinning by sinners like yourself, how much more ought you to fear God, who beholds your inner and hidden depths? By these words, the fear of God will be awakened in your heart: if indeed you desire to embrace this fear of God, you will remain immovable and invincible against vices. As it is written: “Those who A trust in the Lord are as Mount Zion: he shall not be moved forever, he who dwells in Jerusalem.” He who believes that judgment must be undergone when he has departed from the body, judges his neighbor in nothing. For it is necessary, as it is written, that we all be brought before the tribunal of Christ, that each one may receive according to the works he has done in his body, whether reward or punishment. He who believes that there will be a kingdom of the saints, takes heed not to sin in small or minute things, so that he may become a chosen vessel. For, he says, the kingdom of heaven is like a net cast into the sea, and gathering from every kind of fish; when it was full, they drew it out, and chose the good, and cast away the rotten. He who believes that his body will rise again on the day of judgment, ought to keep it pure and whole from every defilement and stain. For he will transform, as it is written, the body of our lowliness, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working of his power. There is nothing in this world that can separate him in whom the charity of God dwells from that charity. For who, says the Apostle, will separate us from the charity of God? Tribulation? Or distress? Or famine? Or nakedness? Or peril? Or persecution? Or the sword? Would that God might find us among those whom no matter of this world has separated from the charity of Christ, that together with them we may find mercy through the power of our Lord Jesus Christ: to whom, with the unbegotten Father and the Holy Spirit, is glory and empire, now and forever, and unto the ages of ages! Amen.
ORATION XVI.
Of the same subject.
1. It seems difficult at first, having left one's country, to betake oneself into solitude, and carry with oneself perfect faith and hope, and constancy of mind against one's own desires. For immediately such thoughts will surround you and cast in fear. How will you bear temptations, and harsh poverty, and diseases, if you should fall into them, when you have no one who cares for you or knows you? But so the goodness of God tests you, that your zeal and charity toward him may appear. Finally, when you are alone in your cell, the most grave thoughts of fear will invade you. They will say, "It is not solitude that saves a man, but the observance of God's commandments"; and they will bring to your memory those related by blood, and will say: "Are not these the servants of God?" Furthermore, they will propose the intemperance of the air, that your heart may give way and you may lose heart. But if charity and hope are in you, malice will accomplish nothing; but your love for God will be made manifest, that you love him more than the comfort of the flesh. The affliction of solitude leads man to hope; hope defends him from enemies from the flesh. For you did not betake yourself to solitude rashly, but so that you might examine and exercise yourself against your adversaries,and that you might learn the time at which to cast down each one of them, so that, once they are conquered, you might arrive at the quietude of immortality. B
II. I consider it a great and noble thing to overcome empty glory and to make progress in the meditation of God. For he who is held by this wicked agitation of vain glory is far from peace itself; he has a mind alienated from holy things, and he falls into the extreme of his own evils, into the vice of pride and the anxiety of deception. But you, O Christian, hide your labors and your virtues; and beware lest your tongue filch them from you and hand them over to your enemies. For he who acts rightly, and casts aside the vices and infirmities of his body through penance, constitutes his soul as precious in the sight of God, and becomes a temple pleasing to Him. But he who desires the glory of men cannot be free from vices; rather, emulation and envy dwell within him. He exposes his soul to many temptations, and his heart is wounded by demons, since he does not always find a place to satisfy his cupidity; the end of this, however, is destruction. To the humble, sins are revealed by God so that they may recognize them and perform penance, and, having cast out the seven demons, they nourish their soul with true glory and holy virtues. Those who are of this sort do not care for the insults of men. For they defend themselves from anger and vengeance as if with a shield, through the remembrance of their own sins, and they patiently endure whatever happens to them. What shame could touch those who see their own sins in the sight of God? But if you cannot bear the words of your neighbor, and wish to answer him back, wars will be stirred up in your heart which will cause you distress, both from what you have heard and from what you have spoken. And you will think those who live alone are blessed, and your heart will be irritated against your neighbors, as if they were devoid of charity. Therefore, embrace patience and charity; for patience conquers anger, and charity wipes away distress. Therefore, pray to God that He may grant you these virtues, by which you may repel the impulse of anger. But if things are still urged against you by which you might grow angry at your neighbor, grow angry instead at the demons, while keeping peace humbly with your neighbor. Whoever, in order to cultivate peace, sustains the harsh words of a bitter and foolish man, he shall be called a son of peace, and shall possess peace of soul, body, and spirit. If these three indeed agree within you, those who are armed against the law of the mind will fall, and the servitude of the flesh will be destroyed, and you yourself shall be called a son of peace, and the Holy Spirit will dwell in you and will not depart.
III. Blessed are those who undertake their labors with prudence and consideration. For they bear them more lightly and evade the guiles and frauds of the demons, especially those who, with a certain fear, deter men from every good work they attempt, and drive the mind, which is vacant for God, towards sloth, so that they may call it away from such a pursuit. Yet if charity, patience, and continence be in us, they will not be able to remove us from even one good work, especially if we consider that sloth destroys all good things. C If you have renounced the world, beware of the demon that brings sadness, lest it hinder you through excessive bitterness and affliction from arriving at the great virtues; which lie in this: that you do not please yourself, that you bear an insult with an even mind, and that you rejoice to be considered fit for no occupation or task of this world. If you exert yourself to attain these things, you will acquire a crown and ornament for your soul. For those who have renounced the world and have embraced poverty in outward appearance alone are not poor in spirit; rather, they are the ones who renounce malice and ever hunger and thirst for the memory of God. Nor do those who merely press upon the body with affliction arrive at tranquility of mind; but those who have leisure for the inner man and cut off their own wills, these shall receive the crowns of virtue. Stand, therefore, in the custody of your heart, and attend to your senses, so that your memory may rest with you from all worldly thoughts, and may not be plundered by robbers. For those who diligently observe their own thoughts recognize those which desire to enter and pollute the soul. If you have applied yourself with ardent zeal to the divine commandments, you will understand those who disturb you, and by what occasion they cast terror upon you. For they terrify the mind, so that it may be puffed up and become sluggish. But those to whom their malice is known remain constant in the place they have chosen, and give thanks to the Lord. For so do those conduct themselves in adverse circumstances to whom patience, longanimity, and charity are dear. But sloth, negligence, and the desire for leisure incite us to seek places where we may find praise and glory. From this the senses become weaker, and an impulse of disturbances arises, and pride and satiety destroy one's hidden temperance.
IV. If you wish to heal your senses perfectly, embrace the cross of Christ; for in it you will find the true medicine for all ailments. If, against your will, your heart is puffed up and is dragged off to do things that you do not wish, know that this proceeds from the old Adam. If your heart hates sin and shrinks from those things that bring occasion for sin, and you, having prudently applied penance, withdraw from those things that entice you to sin, and from your heart pray to your Creator that He may bring you aid, so that in no thing you may offend Him, and, prostrate in his sight with many tears, you shall pray thus: "It is Yours, O Lord, to have mercy. Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies. For I am too weak to be able, without Your help, to escape from their hands." If you pray in this way, diligently striving not to cause distress to those who teach you according to God, this is of the nature of the new Adam, Jesus Christ. For unless you embrace obedience, humility, and patience, even though you do all things, yet you will decline into a habit contrary to nature. Therefore, turn your whole heart to obeying God, beseeching Him thus in truth: "To You, O Lord, I come as a suppliant; teach me to do Your will."
For I know not what is profitable for me. You, O Lord, fight for me against my enemies; for their deceptions and guiles are unknown to me. If, from the heart, you have prayed so, and are eager to carry out those things which are congruent to the nature of the new man, Jesus, He will not allow you to be deceived in anything. If you observe but one single precept, you do not fully care for yourself, nor have you addicted yourself completely to His service. Just as a small field by itself cannot effect that it be purged of weeds and receive good seeds, nor bear good fruit at the same time as weeds—since it is oppressed by the weeds—so you, unless you have been purged of the pleasures of the flesh by divine aid, will not be able to keep yourself from sin.
C V. Beware, therefore, of those things which generate sin. Avarice is the wicked mother of all sins. B Acedia fosters one's own will. Self-will swells with pride and breeds contempt. A heart that pleases itself gives birth to a desire for worldly custom; thence it happens that you covet things that are useless to you, that you open your ears to detractors, that you hunt for trifles and sell them to others, that you love the things of the world, and that you teach what you have not learned and what is not required of you: that with your tongue you prick and goad your neighbor. These and very many other evils follow. If, therefore, anyone makes progress, or desires to make progress, let him carefully beware of the occasions of sin, and thus he will repress and extinguish sins. He who struggles strenuously notices these things and gladly hears admonitions; but he who scorns them opens his ears to flatterers. He who fears the infirmity of the body will not arrive at what is according to nature. He who takes refuge in God as a supplicant will find rest in Him. Unless Gideon had shattered the jars, he would not have looked upon the splendor of the lamps; likewise, unless a man has despised the body, he will not behold the light of the Divinity. Even Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, unless she had taken the tent peg, would not have overcome the pride of Sisera. If, therefore, the mind has strengthened itself, and has decided to follow charity, it will overcome all the vices of the flesh. For charity is patient, is kind, avoids emulation and arrogance; it permits the mind to be oppressed by those things which are contrary to nature. But a good mind is the head and prince of the soul, and does not allow it to accept anything which is contrary to nature; for it shows it how many injuries it has suffered on that account.
VI. When our Lord Jesus Christ was showing His mercy toward the human race upon the cross, He separated two thieves, being in the midst between them. But he who was on the left was troubled, noticing the evil relationship which had existed for him with the other who hung on the right, was broken. But he himself, looking upon Jesus with humility and fear, said, "Remember me when you come D into your kingdom." Therefore, they are no longer friends, nor can he who is on the right persuade the other to withdraw from a wicked purpose of life. But those who have not yet arrived at this way of humility and charity fall and rise again repeatedly, until the mercy of God is bestowed upon them, without which they cannot attain salvation. Since these things are so, let us imitate the faith and humility of the good thief. Humility will make us gladly bear the ignominy of the cross. Whoever, having taken up his cross, is separated by Christ from the wicked thief, recognizes his sins by which he offended God, and confesses and bewails them, and obtains pardon and mercy from God Himself: to whom is power and glory, now and always, and for ages of ages. Amen.
ORATION XVII. Concerning the Joy of the Soul Serving God.
I. First of all, I exhort you in the fear of God, that you may be perfect according to His will, so that your labors may not be empty, but pleasing to God. For he who engages in business makes a profit, and therefore rejoices; nor does he consider what labors he has endured. He who has taken a wife intently observes and guards her, and his heart rests in her. A soldier, fighting for his king, despises death, so that he may be gifted with a crown. These are the works of this world, and those who do them rejoice. Since this is so, with what joy should the mind of him who has devoted himself to the service of God be affected, and who conducts himself energetically in that pursuit, when he considers that the angels will come to meet him as he departs from this life, and will congratulate him because he has been liberated from the powers of darkness? For when the soul departs from the body, the angels set out with it. Then, however, all the powers of darkness run to meet it, and inquire if they can find anything of their own in it, so that they may claim it for themselves. On the contrary, however, then the angels fight, and much more so the works which it itself has done, by which it is defended and guarded against the opposing adversaries, so that they cannot touch it. Because good works have conquered, then the angels sing its praise, until it meets God with joy. At which time, indeed, it forgets all the labors it endured in the world. In this brief life-course, therefore, let us labor eagerly, and let us guard our works pure and whole from all malice, so that we may be liberated from the hands of our enemies who are most wicked and cruel.
II. Blessed is he in whom nothing of these things is found, for his joy and gladness, and rest and crown, is immortal. But the riches and pleasures of this world are vain. Let us weep before the Lord with all our might, so that He may, out of His kindness, have mercy on us, and bring us aid, by which we may resist the enemies attacking us. Let us hold care for ourselves with severity, and let us be carried toward God with desire, so that He may then snatch us from the wicked hands of our enemies. The poor, kindly...
A let us embrace, that He may free us from avarice. Let us all love our brothers equally, pursuing no one at all with hatred, nor rendering evil for evil, and we shall be freed from emulation. Let us have peace with all, as much with the small as with the great. In all things let us preserve humility, and let us yield to our neighbor, even though we are affected by injury or contumely, so that we may be free from pride. Let us honor our neighbor, even if we are vituperated by him, and we shall be alien to evil speaking. Let us despise the delights and dignities of the world, so that we may be integral from envy. Let us restrain the tongue in the praises of God and in prayers, so that falsehood may be far absent from us. Let us keep our soul and body from lust, so that we may be pure and chaste. For these things protect and defend the soul when it departs from the body; and the virtues are an aid to it, if it has possessed them. Who that is wise would refuse to meet death, so that he may be freed from the miseries and sins of the world? Let us do what is in us, and the virtue of our Lord Jesus Christ will not be wanting to our humility. For He knows the infirmity of man, and therefore has granted him the refuge of penance, as long as he is in the body, up to the final breath. Fix, therefore, all your thoughts in God, that He may guard you. Place no hope in this world, that it may not destroy you; for you will abandon all these earthly things, and you will depart. But whatever you have done for God's sake, that will accompany you at the time of need. Pursue the things of the world with hatred, so that your heart may see God. Apply yourself constantly to prayer, so that your mind may be illuminated. Flee sloth, lest you be affected with sorrow in the resurrection of the just. Guard your tongue, and embrace the fear of God. Be kind to the poor, lest you be confounded in the sight of the saints. Do not indulge the desire for food, lest Amalek keep you away. Refrain from murmurings, lest serpents devour you. Do not love wine for drunkenness, lest you be deprived of the joy of God. Love and observe pious men, so that through them you may obtain mercy. Cultivate holy men, so that their zeal may consume you.
III. Remember the kingdom of heaven, so that its memory may gradually entice you. Consider Gehenna, so that its works may be hateful to you. Every day when you rise in the morning, think that you are to render an account to God of all things that you have done, and you will not sin against Him, but His fear will remain in you. Prepare yourself so that you may proceed to meet Him, and you will obey His will. Calculate daily those things in which you fail here, and in the very moment of death you will not be afflicted. May your brothers see your good works, and may holy zeal consume them. Examine yourself daily, whether you are overcoming any vice in yourself, nor pride yourself on that account; for mercy and virtue are of God. Do not be exalted concerning your faith and probity, but stand in fear up to the very last breath of life. Do not trust in yourself, as long as you live, until you overcome all the powers of darkness. Watch, brother, against the spirit that brings sadness to man. For he sets many snares, that he may oppress you. For the sadness that is from God brings joy, and confirms a man in the will of God. But he who says to you: "Where will you flee? You have no penance, you will not find forgiveness"; he is from the enemy, and seeks nothing else, but that, having cast away continence, you may fall into desperation. But the sadness which is from God does not impel a man to desperation, but on the contrary consoles him, saying: "Do not fear; return to God, who is kind and merciful and knows the weakness of men." Resist evil thoughts bitterly, and they will flee from you. For they press and overcome the timid and the slothful, and charge them with not having faith in God. He who does not flatter himself in the least, and who recognizes his own ignorance and infirmity, he B does not indulge his own desires, but obeys the divine will. He who pleases himself, and prefers his own judgment to others, shews that the fear of God is absent from him.
IV. The fear of God is the guardian of the soul, and the defender of reason against its enemies. He who seeks the glory of God drives impurity from himself. He who is prudently solicitous cuts off desires. For solicitude, as it is written, shall come to the wise man; and he who extenuates himself, knows sanity. He who has conquered the adversaries of his king is crowned. There are vices, there are also virtues. But if we have given ourselves to sloth, we are caught as traitors. Labor according to God is an aid to virtue, sloth is the mother of vices. It belongs to those who pursue virtues that, if they have fallen, they do not despair, but arise. Moderate bodily labors are useful in cultivating virtues. From inertia, vices sprout. The wall of those who fight knowingly is not to judge one's neighbor. He destroys this wall who vituperates his neighbor. Moderation of the tongue indicates a prudent man. He who loosens the reins of the tongue signifies that he is far removed from virtue. Almsgiving begets confidence; he who abhors almsgiving is devoid of virtue. Goodness is the mother of chastity. Distraction of soul begets desires. Harshness of heart brings forth anger. Exercise of the soul detests earthly occupations. Bodily exercise is of little use. The mind collapses when it loves occupations, but it arises while it embraces moderate quiet. Satiety of sleep in the body excites desires. Moderate vigilance is the salvation of the heart. Excessive sleep dulls the soul, but moderate sleep sharpens it. He who spends the time of vigilance in trifles, would more tolerably place it in sleep. The companion of all vices is sorrow. Humility does not prick the conscience of a neighbor. Human glory gradually begets pride. Distention hinders cognition. Continence of the belly tames vices. The study of banquets excites immense desires. The adornment of the body is the destruction of the soul. Meditation on the divine judgment keeps the mind to its duty.
V. He who tramples his conscience shakes virtues from his heart. He who fears God is diligent; he who loves Him...
does not fear, but embraces negligence. He who guards his mouth and is prudently silent lifts his thoughts to God. From much speaking come sloth and anger. He who submits his own will to his neighbor shows that his mind is intent upon virtue; but he who embraces his own will offers evidence of his ignorance. The fear of God and silent meditation guard the mind from vices. Worldly conversations cast darkness upon the heart and deter one from virtues. The love of earthly things perturbs the mind and the soul; but contempt for them brings peace and tranquility. He who hides his thoughts seeks the glory of the world; but he who reveals his thoughts to the Fathers puts them to flight. Into a house that lacks doors and windows, any serpent can enter: like to this is the man who labors but does not guard his labors. Just as rust consumes iron, so ambition gnaws the heart of man. Just as ivy, having embraced a vine, destroys its fruit, so vain glory overturns the labors of man. Among the virtues, humility excels, and gluttony is foremost among vices. The goal of virtues is charity, and the extreme of vices is to consider oneself righteous. Just as a moth ruins wood by gnawing it, so malice, invading the heart of man, oppresses the soul. He who casts his soul before God easily endures the insults of men. He who does not reprove himself is overcome by wrath. He who associates with people given over to the world and holds discourse with them perturbs his soul and confuses it, taking away his confidence in prayer. He who loves the things of the world casts darkness upon his own soul. But he who clearly holds in contempt and despises the things of the world knows and perceives what the true goods are. He who willingly takes up labors easily subdues and puts vices to flight; but sloth and laziness beget and foster them.
VI. Do not involve yourself in civil affairs, and your mind will be tranquil. Do not trust in your own strength, and divine help will be with you. Do not cultivate enmities with any man, otherwise your prayer will be detestable. Let there be peace between you and all, so that your prayer may be pleasing to God. Guard your eyes, and do not let your heart contemplate wicked things. He who looks upon a woman with lust commits adultery. Do not desire to hear of the loss of an enemy, lest your heart rejoice in vengeance. Seal your ears, lest you make enemies for yourself. Exercise your hand in work and labor, that the poor man may find bread: for sloth is death and the ruin of the soul. Frequent prayer shakes off the yoke of servitude. He who thinks that death is approaching easily refrains from sins. He who hopes he will live for a long time is ensnared by many sins. He who lives as if he were about to render an account for all his deeds preserves his life whole from sin with the help of God; but he who scorns this, saying, "When will that day be?" walks in the way of sins. Consider where you are and where you must depart when A you have departed from the body, and at no time neglect B your soul. Consider the honor which all the saints have attained, and emulation of them will gradually entice you to virtue. Consider also the disgrace into which all sinners have fallen, and it will guard you always from evils.
VII. Whatever you do, direct it by the counsel of your Fathers, and you will pass all your time with tranquility. Pay attention to yourself; when a thought prods you that you have offended your brother, do not despise it; but as a suppliant beg pardon from him until you obtain it. Beware of being harsh and bitter toward your brother; for we are all tempted by the enemy. If you live with other brothers, do not always command them, but labor alongside them, lest you lose your reward. If demons inject into you anxiety about food and clothing, or reproach you for excessive poverty, answer them nothing, but prostrate yourself with your whole heart before God, and He himself will console you. Beware of being negligent in your prayers; for from them light comes to the soul. If you have done many good works, do not be boastful. If, on the other hand, you have committed many evils again, let not your heart waste away with despair, but let it be diligent in attention, lest it be entangled by them further. If lust presses upon you (10), afflict your body without ceasing in the sight of God with humility, and you will find peace. If envy invades you, consider that we are all members of Christ, and that the honor and the ignominy of a neighbor are common to us, and you will be liberated. If the desire for food and drink attacks you, consider the stench that arises therefrom, and you will rest. If the vice of slandering a brother attacks you, consider how abject that is to the soul, and how hateful to God, and it will depart from you. If pride occupies you, remember that through it all fruits of the virtues are shaken off, and it will flee from you. If contempt for a neighbor invades you, consider that God will deliver you into the hands of your enemies, and it will depart from you. If the beauty of the body drags your heart, consider what filth is within it, and you will rest. If the pleasure of a woman is pleasant to you (11), repeat the memory of some of those who are already dead, and you will find peace.
VIII. All these things are discussed by the judgment of reason. Which judgment, indeed, you cannot attain without exercise. First, rest is necessary: this D study produces; from study, knowledge of human misery is born, which begets the fear of God; from the fear of God comes humility; from humility, prudence; from prudence, love; love preserves the soul free from disturbances. Then man easily understands how far he is from God. To these ornaments of the virtues, he who desires to approach should cast aside all human anxiety and prepare himself for death; and as often as he prays, let him consider what it is that separates him from God, and let him avoid that, and hate the whole world; and the kindness of God will quickly grant him all these things.
A With regard to these things, believe me, no one who indulges in wine and food, and loves anything of this world, will aspire to them; rather, he deceives himself. Wherefore I exhort all men who desire to reconcile God to themselves through penitence, to be temperate in wine. For wine renews all vices and drives the fear of God from the soul. Pray to God with all your might that He may grant you fear, so that you may be able to overcome all the vices that strive to reduce your wretched soul to servitude. Therefore, brother, never cease while you are in the body, nor trust in yourself, even if you sometimes feel yourself free from disturbances. For our enemies cease to attack us for a time, so that we may relax our zeal, whereby they may attack us off-guard, and seize our unhappy soul like a sparrow, and hold it in more grievous sins than those from which it was previously praying to be delivered.
IX. Let us therefore remain in the fear of God, and embrace all those virtues which restrain the malice of our enemies. For virtues not only deliver us from vices, but also prepare a crown for the soul before it departs from the body. Our teacher, the holy Lord Jesus, knowing the cruelty of our enemies and having compassion on the human race, said: "Watch, for you do not know at what hour the thief will come," lest he come suddenly and find you sleeping. And again, teaching His own, He said: "Take heed, lest your hearts be weighed down with surfeiting and drunkenness, and the cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly." Since He also knew that our adversaries were stronger than us, in order to teach us that strength comes from Him, so that, fortified by it, we would not fear them at all, He said: "Behold, I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves," and He commanded them to carry nothing on the road. For since they possessed nothing of the wolves, the wolves could not devour them. But when they had returned safe and sound, having observed His command, He rejoiced for them, giving thanks to God and the Father for their sake. And confirming their hearts, He said to them: "I saw Satan falling like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you power to trample upon serpents and scorpions, and nothing shall hurt you." That mission was with fear and observation. But when they had returned, having fulfilled the command, He gave them power and authority.
X. These things do not pertain to them alone, but to B all those who observe His commands. For since He loved them with perfect love, He said: "Fear not, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have, and give alms; and you shall have purses which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail." And when they had also kept this saying, He said to them: "My peace I give to you, My peace I leave with you." And again, exhorting them: "He who loves Me," He said, "shall keep My commands; and I and the Father will come, and we will make our home with him." Now, to dispel the terror of the world from them: "In the world," He said, "you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." And strengthening them, that they might not despond in spirit during adverse things, and filling their hearts with joy: "You," He said, "are they who have continued with Me in My temptations. And I assign to you, as My Father assigned to Me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at My table." However, He did not say this to all, but to those who had continued with Him in tribulations. Who are those who had continued with Jesus in tribulations, if not those who are constant in attacking vices until they have cut them down? But He addressed them this way when He was about to go to the cross. Therefore, he who wishes to eat and drink at the table of the Lord must ascend the cross together with Him. For the cross of Jesus is the assailing of all desires, until you have destroyed them.
XI. Therefore, the blessed Apostle who had crushed them, dared to say: "I have been crucified with Christ. Yet I live, but no longer I; but Christ lives in me." Therefore, in those who have destroyed their desires, Christ lives. Wherefore, admonishing his children, the Apostle said: "Those who are Christ Jesus' have crucified the flesh with its vices and concupiscences." Writing also to Timothy, his son: "If," he said, "we have died together, we shall also live together; if we endure, we shall also reign together; if we deny Him, He also will deny us." But who denies Him, if not he who does his own will according to the flesh, and who does despite to holy baptism? For through His holy name, the remission of sins has been given to us. But our enemy has bound us again to sin through envy. Since our Lord Jesus Christ was not unaware of his malice from the beginning, He has granted us the gift of penitence even until the final breath. For if this gift of penitence did not exist, almost no one would be saved. Therefore, when the Apostle knew that there would not be wanting those who would sin even after baptism, he said: "He who stole, let him steal no longer." Therefore, while we have the seal of the Holy Spirit, let us strive to wash away our sins, that we may find mercy on that day which is now approaching. For the Lord will quickly be present, sitting C on the throne of His majesty, and all the tribes will be gathered before Him; and each one from his own lamp D which he holds in his hand will be illuminated. But if anyone does not have oil, his lamp will be extinguished, and he will be cast into the darkness; but he who has a bright and burning lamp will enter into the kingdom.
XII. Let us therefore strive, brothers, that our vessels may be full of oil as long as we are in the body, so that our lamp may shine for us as we enter into the kingdom. A noble and illustrious lamp is a holy soul. For the soul, shining with good deeds...
will go into the darkness. Watch, therefore, brothers, and apply yourselves to good works, for the time is approaching. Blessed is he who conducts himself vigorously. The crop is already ripe, and the harvest is at hand. Blessed is he who has kept his fruit, because angels will come and store it in the eternal barn. Woe to those who are weeds, for the fire awaits them! The inheritance of this world is gold, and silver, and houses, and garments: all of which provide matter for sin; and yet, departing from here, we leave them behind. But the inheritance of God is immense, which neither eye has seen, nor ear has heard, nor has the heart of man perceived in thought. And this He lavishes upon those who, in this short time, obey His commands. This we shall receive in exchange for the bread and water and garments we have given to the poor, for kindness, for bodily purity, for purity of heart, and for the remaining virtues. Those who cultivate these virtues find both peace in this world, and honor and veneration among men; and when they have departed from the body, they will receive everlasting joy. But those who indulge their desires, and do not repent, but are held by pleasure, and deceived by the error of opinion, hunt for delights and embrace vices, and do not fear the judgment of God, and are cruel and inhuman toward the poor, and entangle and contaminate themselves with remaining sins: these, as they will be confounded in this world, and will be despised and held in detestation among men, so too, when they have migrated from this world, disgrace and ignominy in Gehenna will follow them. B God can, however, make us worthy, that we may progress in His works and abstain from every evil work, so that we may be able to be saved in the time of temptation, which is about to come upon the whole world. For our Lord Jesus Christ does not delay, but will come bringing rewards with Him; and He will send the impious indeed into the eternal fire, but will bestow a reward upon the pious, and they will enter with Him into the heavenly kingdom, where they will rest for ages of ages. Amen.
ORATION XVIII. On the Oblivion of Injuries.
C I. The holy Apostle was instructing his children: The Lord, he says, is near: be anxious for nothing, but in every prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known before God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds. And the Lord says in the Gospel: Forgive, He says, all sins to your debtors, that your Father also may forgive your sins. The word of the Lord is terrible and to be dreaded. Unless you see your heart to be pure toward all, beware of asking anything from God, lest you inflict ignominy upon yourself; for being a sinner, and being angry with your neighbor, you nevertheless dare to say to Him who searches hearts: Forgive me my sins. He who is such a one does not pray with his mind, but with his lips, in ignorance. For he who truly wants to pray to God in the Holy Spirit and with a pure heart, examines his own spirit before he approaches to pray, whether he holds any hatred against anyone, or not, lest he deceive himself while no one hears. D For even if the tongue itself does not pray, except by some instituted custom of paying the hourly prayers. Therefore, if you wish to offer a pure prayer, first examine your mind, and so constitute it that if you should say: Have mercy on me, you yourself also may have mercy on the one who prays to you. If you should say: Forgive me, you also may forgive your enemies. If you should say: Do not remember my faults, you also may not remember the faults of your neighbor. If you should say: Do not remember the sins, with which I, whether willing or unwilling, have entangled myself, you also may forget the injuries by which you were affected. Unless you have performed these things, you pray in vain. For God does not hear you, as all the Scriptures testify. For thus He commands to pray in the Gospel of Matthew: And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. For if you forgive men their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you your sins. And in the Gospel of Luke: Forgive, He says, and it will be forgiven you. And elsewhere, teaching the disciples to pray: And forgive us our sins, if indeed we also forgive everyone who owes us.
II.
The whole power of charity I have shown to you, that what you wish to be done for you by God, you yourself might first do. And then you will be measured by that measure which you have exhibited to men. God looks at the affection of the heart, not just the words of the tongue. Therefore, so confirm your heart that you may blot out all injuries with voluntary oblivion; for nothing is more vehement than the will, whether it inclines to death or to life. Blessed, therefore, are those who love eternal life, because they will not stumble. Into that care, with all labor and study, one must apply oneself, so that you may overcome the attacking thoughts before they wound your heart. You will attain this if you always have your sins before your eyes. For in this way, if you understand that any injury has been brought upon you by someone, you will more easily banish from your mind every desire of taking revenge. But if you proceed to be angry at your neighbor, the fear of Gehenna will invade you; and while you ask to be forgiven, it will so refute you: Unhappy and miserable man, God has patiently awaited you until this day, and has not revealed your sins; and you openly grow angry at your brother, and bitterly judge his sins, and hope that you will obtain mercy from God? You are deceived, believe me. If therefore your heart is gentle and easy to forgive, you will find mercy before God; but if it has been harsh and inhuman toward your neighbor, no account will be taken of you in the sight of God. Forgive me. For I am indeed a needy man, and entangled in sins. And writing this, I am confounded in my heart.A For if a man has not fashioned himself according to the nature and example of the Son of God, all his labors are in vain. Anyone who sows expects a manifold harvest; but if hope should deceive him, he grieves that he has wasted his seeds and his labors.
III. When the apostle Peter was about to be affixed to the cross at Rome, he prayed that he might be suspended with his head downward. By this mystery, he indeed indicated the things that are contrary to nature and that have dominion over man. For whoever has been baptized ought to crucify all things repugnant to nature and reason, by which Adam was overcome and cast down from glory into ignominy and eternal shame. Therefore, one must fight with a brave spirit and despise all things that are held in high esteem among men. For these are the things that bring the sons of Adam into servitude: namely, gain, honor, leisure, glory, bodily beauty, and other similar things which nourish the pleasure that the dragon cast into the mouth of Eve. Therefore, we too, from the evil thoughts that make us enemies of God, recognize ourselves to be sons of Adam. Blessed is he who has been crucified with Christ, and has died, and been buried, and has risen in the newness of life, and follows the holy footprints of Jesus; who for our sake became man, so that through humility, poverty, and the endurance of injuries and ignominy we might be made like him, and, being anxious for nothing concerning the body, and fearing not the snares of the wicked, we might have peace with all. He who, with vices removed, embraces these things, is of Christ, and is a son of God, and a brother of Jesus. May God grant that we all may be in the number of his elect, and may enjoy eternal goods in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and dominion for ever and ever! Amen.
ORATION XIX. Concerning the diseases of the mind.
I. I too wish to cry out with the prophet Isaiah: I have been patient, I will speak as one in labor: I will make them wither, and I will destroy them. If you know yourself, if the fountain of the Holy Spirit flows within you, it is certain that your enemies are withered and destroyed. The kingdom of God, says our Savior, is not here or there, but within you. There are those who speak of the things of the kingdom, yet do not do them; there are others who do them, but less knowingly and considerately; but few are those within whom is the kingdom of God, as the Savior says. To these the Holy Spirit comes: in them is fulfilled the word of John the Evangelist: He gave them power to become sons of God, to those who believe in his name; who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. These have been set free from the pain that invaded Eve: In pain you shall bring forth children. These have been set free from the bitter sentence that was passed upon Adam: Cursed is the earth in your work. These are they who receive the grace which Mary received: For the Holy Spirit B shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you.
Just as pain took hold of Eve and her seed even to this day; so joy took hold of Mary, and all good Christians for ever. As therefore we were already children of Eve, and recognized her curse upon us through our evil thoughts: so we ought to understand that we are children of God through the good thoughts of the Holy Spirit, and the passions of Christ, if indeed they are truly in our body. For thus it is written by the apostle: Test yourselves, whether Christ is in you, lest you be reprobates. For when we bore the image of the earthly, we knew ourselves to be his children from the base matter of the thoughts dwelling within us, which are diseases of the mind; but those who bear the image of the heavenly, recognize themselves to be children of God through the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. For Isaiah cries: For fear of you, O Lord, we have conceived in the womb, and have been in labor, and have brought forth the spirit of salvation upon the earth. And again it is written in Ecclesiastes: As the bones are knit together in the womb of her who is with child, so is the way of the spirit. For as the holy Virgin carried the Son of God in the flesh: so those who receive the grace of the Holy Spirit conceive and carry him in their heart, just as the Apostle says that Christ may dwell in the inner man through faith in your hearts, rooted and founded in charity, that you may be able to comprehend with all the saints. And again: We have, he says, this treasure in earthen vessels, that the sublimity may be of the power of God, and not of us C from glory to glory you are transformed, and that which is of the Apostle is fulfilled in you: And let the peace of God exult in your hearts; and: If Christ Jesus is in your mind. And: For because light has shone out of darkness in your hearts of the knowledge of God: and if that is fulfilled in you: Let your loins be girt, and lamps burning in your hands: and you shall be as servants waiting for their lord, until he returns from the wedding; lest your mouth be obstructed, not having what to answer in the midst of the saints. And if you know yourself, like those virgins, to have oil in your vessel, so that you may go to meet the bridegroom, and not be excluded; and if you recognize your spirit, and soul, and body to be joined without reproach, so that they may appear without stain on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ; and if your conscience does not accuse or rebuke you; and if you have become a little child according to the word of the Savior saying: Suffer the little children to come to me; for of such is the kingdom of heaven; truly your soul has become his bride, and the Holy Spirit rests in you, even now while you are in the body. But if you are not of such a kind, expect sorrow and bitter groaning, because disgrace and ignominy will go before you in the sight of the saints. Just as a virgin every day in the morning
when she rises, cares for nothing else but to adorn herself for her spouse, and examines herself carefully in a mirror, lest any stain remain upon her face, whereby the spouse might be offended; so with great daily care and diligence do the saints examine their thoughts, words, and actions, lest there be anything in them that might displease the heavenly spouse. Spare no labors of soul or body, A brother, so that you may attain that eternal joy for which few are found worthy; to be sure, those who have cleansed their soul and senses from all defilement by the sword of the spirit, as the Apostle admonishes. May God aid our infirmity, that we may merit to be in the number of his saints through Christ our Lord. Amen.
ORATIO XX. On Humility.
A (14) What is humility? Humility is when someone deems himself a sinner, and that he does nothing good in the sight of God. The work of humility is silence, and not to measure oneself against anyone, and not to contend; it is submission, to keep one’s gaze on the ground, to keep one’s own death before one’s eyes, to guard oneself against falsehood, not to speak in idle talk, not to contradict one’s superior, to hate rest, to force oneself in labor, to be sober. Brother, perform these commandments with precision, so that your soul may not become a dwelling place for every passion; but be sober in each one of them, so that you do not finish your whole life fruitless.
B What is humility? Humility is when someone deems himself a sinner, and that he does nothing good in the sight of God. He exercises the duties of humility who cultivates silence, who does not please himself in anything, who is not contentious, who submits himself to all, who keeps his eyes fixed upon the ground, who assiduously meditates on death, who guards against deception, and abhors trifles and useless conversations, who does not oppose his superiors, who does not defend his own opinion in the slightest, who bears insult with an even mind, who flees idleness, who willingly undertakes labors, who irritates no one. Give diligence, therefore, brother, that you may possess these things, lest your soul become a dwelling place for all perturbations, and you pass a life forever fruitless. May God grant us to bear fruits worthy of eternal life, to whom is glory for ever and ever. Amen.
ORATIO XXI. On Penitence.
I. An inquiry was made of the abbot Isaias as to what penitence might be, or what it is to flee from sin. He responded, saying: there are two ways: one of life, the other of death. He who enters by the one does not walk in the other; but he who walks in both is not yet addicted to one or the other, neither to the kingdom nor to punishment, until he departs from life. Judgment is of God, whose mercy also is. He who wishes to enter the kingdom, observes his works. For the kingdom of heaven destroys every sin. The enemies sow, but the seeds of their thoughts do not germinate. For when the mind has tasted the sweetness of divinity, darts cannot penetrate it. It is fortified, indeed, by the shield of the virtues, by which it defends itself so that it cannot be troubled, and it applies itself to its own meditation, that it may discern both ways, and flee one, while loving the other. If anyone knows the glory of God, he understands the savagery of the enemy. If anyone recognizes the kingdom, he is not ignorant of hell. To whom love is known, to him also is hatred clearly seen. To whom the love of God is known, to him the hatred of the world is not unknown. He who knows purity, he detests impurity. He who knows the fruit of the virtues, he also knows what the fruit of malice is. He for whose good works the angels rejoice, he does not doubt that the demons rejoice when we perform their works. How might someone understand what avarice is, unless for the sake of God he embraces poverty? How might he know the bitterness of emulation, unless he has attained gentleness? How might he know the perturbation of anger, unless he loves patience in all things? How the foulness of lust, unless he senses the sweetness of complete chastity? How the disgrace of detraction, unless he recognizes his own infirmities? How the foolishness of laughter, unless he pours forth tears in mourning his sins? How the vice of sloth, unless with rightly constituted senses he perceives the light of God?
II. The head of all these evils is one: the malice of the enemy. But the fountain of the virtues is the fear of God. He who possesses the fear of God brings forth virtues in chastity, and amputates the branches of malice which we have enumerated. Embrace the fear of God, dearest brother, and you will pass all your time with tranquility. For the root of all the virtues is the fear of God. As long as one transgresses these, he is not yet of the kingdom of heaven. Little by little, therefore, he must struggle, until he overcomes the vices which we have mentioned. But he will understand that he has achieved this by this proof: as long as the left hand performs its works, sin has not yet died; nor does the virtue of the right hand rest with you. For it is written: Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves as servants to obey, you are servants of him whom you obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? And again: Do you not know that Jesus Christ is in you? unless perhaps you are reprobates. And James: If anyone, he says, seems to be religious, not bridling his tongue, this man’s religion is vain. The Holy Spirit teaches us all these things, so that we may depart from sin,
A and not fall into it any further. For in this the entire body will be dark. Therefore, unless the mind stands firm through repentance from malice, it cannot gaze upon the light of the Divinity. For malice is held before the mind like an obscure wall, and makes the soul desolate, as it is written in the Gospel: No one lighting a lamp puts it under a bushel, but on a lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. The injustice of this world is called a bushel, by which, while the mind itself is distracted, the lamp of the Divinity cannot be in it. But if the mind is upon a more lofty lampstand, then the light of the Divinity is within it; then it recognizes those who are in the house, and whom it ought to cast out, and with whom it should have peace. For He taught those whose mind is illuminated in the divine commandments, saying: I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you. Pray for those who slander and persecute you. To him who strikes you on the right cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your garment, do not forbid the tunic as well. Give to everyone who asks of you, and to him who wants to borrow from you, do not turn away; and from him who takes away what is yours, do not ask it back.
III. Again, when it was asked of this same abbot how one ought to live in the cell, he replied: He in the cell rightly cultivates rest and silence who, as a suppliant prostrate before God, constantly devotes himself to prayer, and with all his strength repels all the wicked thoughts of the enemy. For that is to flee far from the world. Again, when it was asked of him what the world is: The world is, he said, the distraction of the mind toward sins. The world is, when we follow those things that are contrary to nature. The world is, when we fulfill the lusts of the flesh. The world is, when we suppose we will remain a long time in this world. The world is, when we provide more care for the body than for the soul. The world is, when we boast in those things which are fleeting. I do not invent these things from myself, but the apostle John speaks thus: Do not love the world, nor the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Because all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; which is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world passes away and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God remains forever. Little children, let no one seduce you. He who does righteousness is righteous; but he who commits sin is of the devil: for from the beginning the devil sins. For the friendship of the world is enmity toward God. And the apostle Peter, deterring his children from sin, says: I exhort you, brothers, as strangers and pilgrims, to abstain from carnal desires, which war against the soul. And our beloved Lord Jesus, when He knew the world to bring upon us the affliction of sin, until we leave it, confirmed his disciples: The prince of this world is coming, He says, and in me he finds nothing of the things that are his; and again: The world is set in the wicked one. And concerning his disciples He said that He had chosen them out of the world. How did He choose them out of the world, if not from every occupation of sin? Whoever, therefore, wishes to be a disciple of Jesus, flees from vices; for unless he has cast them off, he cannot be the dwelling of God, nor taste the sweetness of the Divinity. For the lamp, he says, of the body is the eye. Unless the eye is simple, the whole B body will be dark. C IV. He said these things to those who had fled the world. For they had left all things of this world, and had prepared themselves to follow their Savior. Therefore, loving them with perfect charity, He said to them: Arise, let us go hence. Whither, therefore, does He lead them, since He says: Arise, let us go hence? He leads them away from the business of this world into His kingdom, so that they may rest. Wherefore to them: I, He says, am the vine, and you are the branches. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit unless it has remained in the vine: so neither can you, unless you have remained in me. Thus He addresses those who abandon the world, because the Holy Spirit is in them and dwells in their hearts. I will not leave you orphans, but I will come to you. If, therefore, anyone loves God, and desires Him to dwell in him, and not to be left an orphan, let him study to observe the things which Jesus commanded, and He will dwell with him. For He is not far from us, nor does anything intervene between Him and us, except sin. Wherefore, brother, if you say that you have renounced the world, and are caught doing the things that are of the world, you have not renounced it plainly, but you are deceiving yourself. For He passed judgment on those who have renounced the world: He who loves, He says, his soul will lose it; but he who has lost his soul for my sake, will save it. How does one lose his soul, except while he cuts off all the desires of the flesh? And again: He who does not take up his cross and follow me, cannot be my disciple. What does He mean that we should take up the cross, except that the mind should constantly watch and persist in virtues? He does not depart from the cross who pursues vices, until he strikes them down and overcomes them. To those who rise again: Unless, He says, a grain of wheat falling into the ground has died, it itself D
remains alone; but if it has died, it brings forth much fruit. He consoles those who die in the likeness of the grain, saying: He who serves me, my Father will honor him. And where I am, there also will my minister be. How can they serve Jesus, unless they pursue worldly vices with hatred and observe the commandments of God? By the observance of these they gain confidence and say to him, Behold, we have left all things and followed you: what therefore will be ours? To whom He replies: You who have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of His majesty, you also shall sit upon thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And whoever has left houses, or brothers or sisters, or father or mother, or wife or children, or fields for my name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall possess eternal life. B
V. When our beloved Lord Jesus knew that it was impossible for the human mind to approach the cross unless it were absent from all worldly concern, He commanded that one should leave all those things the opportunity for which might distract one from the cross. Thus, when a man came to Him and said, I will follow you, Lord, but permit me first to arrange those things which are in my house, He forbade him; for if his heart had seen them, he would have turned back to them again. No one, He says, putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of heaven. Now when a father had prepared a supper for his son, and had sent servants to call those who were invited, and they—on account of the desire of those things which each loved—would not come, He, moved by sorrow, said: If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, and also his own life, he cannot be my disciple. By which words He signified that we cannot arrive at the kingdom which we desire, unless we have first decided to hate those things which entice our heart to the world. Furthermore, warning us not to trust in faith alone in which works are not present: He says, A king, having entered to see those reclining, saw there a man not arrayed in a wedding garment, and commanded him to be thrust into the outer darkness. For they enter because they are Christians in name; but they are cast out because they do not have works congruent with that name. The Apostle knew that no one could love the things of God and the things of the world at the same time; thus he wrote to Timothy his disciple: No one serving as a soldier is implicated in the affairs of life, so that he may please the one by whom he was chosen as a soldier. Nor is any athlete crowned, unless he has struggled lawfully. And confirming him, that he might not believe his labors would be empty: It is necessary, he says, for the laboring husbandman to partake first of the fruits. And writing to the Corinthians: He who is without a wife, he says, is anxious about the things of the Lord, how he may please God; but he who is with a wife, is anxious about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and he is divided. C
VI. Let us therefore strive with our strength, brothers, that we may put on the garments of virtues, lest we be thrust outside. For there will be no acceptance of persons before God on that day. And those who live filthily and wickedly, as the Apostle says, cannot possess the kingdom of God. And because they who are raised up from the works of death, and live according to the spirit, have none by whom they may be accused, he indicates what the fruit of that very spirit is: The fruit of the spirit, he says, is charity, joy, peace, patience, long-suffering, goodness, kindness, meekness, faith, modesty, continence, chastity. Against such things there is no law. But our amiable Lord Jesus, showing that the works on that day must be manifested: Many, he says, will seek to enter, and will not be able. For after the master of the house has arisen and shut the door, to those knocking he will reply: I do not know you. Are we able to say that God is ignorant of anything? Far from it! Why, therefore, is it said, I do not know you? Because He is ignorant of the virtues in those who knock and say: Lord, Lord, open to us. And concerning those indeed who have faith and do not have works, He speaks again: I am, He says, the vine, and you are the branches; he who abides in me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; but he who does not abide in me, will be cast out D and will wither, and will be cast into the fire. But those who bear good fruit, God purges, that they may bear more fruits. That He does not love those who give way to the will of the flesh, He declares: Not for the world, He says, do I pray, but for those whom you have given to me, because they are yours: and I have chosen them out of the world: for the world loves the things that are its own. Father, keep them from evil, because they are not of the world. Let us examine ourselves, brothers, whether we are of the world or not. For if we are not of the world, He will keep us from evil. For so He says: Not for these only do I pray, but also for those who through their word will believe in me, that all may be one, just as we are one; and again: That where I am, there they also may be with me.
VII. Consider, beloved, how much charity embraces us who struggle in this world and hate the will of the flesh, since we are to reign with Him for infinite ages. For contemplating that great glory, the apostle John says: We know, he says, that when He appears, we shall be like Him, if we have kept His commandments and done those things which are pleasing in His sight; and the same again: Do not marvel, beloved, if the world hates you. We know that we have been translated from death to life, because we love the brothers; and again: Everyone who
does not do justice is not from God, and he who does not love his brother; and again: "He who does justice is born of God;" but "he who commits sin is of the devil;" and again: "He who is born of God does not commit sin, because his seed remains in him and he cannot sin, since he is born of God." Strengthened by these testimonies, let us take refuge in the kindness of God, that He may have mercy on us and grant us strength by which we may shake off the filthy yoke of this world. For our enemy never ceases to track down all the paths by which he may plunder our souls. But our Lord Jesus Christ is with us. His words help us. By the power of these, if we have kept them, we shall crush the enemy. Otherwise, who could resist him? The Apostle Peter, teaching that man is saved by works, says: "Supply in your faith virtue, and in virtue knowledge, and in knowledge abstinence, and in abstinence patience, and in patience piety, and in piety love of the brotherhood, and in love of the brotherhood charity. For if these things are present in you and abound, they will not make you idle or without fruit in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he to whom these are not present is blind and groping with his hand, receiving oblivion of his old sins." And John the Baptist: "Bring forth," he says, "fruits worthy of repentance. Now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree, therefore, that does not bring forth good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire." And the Lord: "By the fruit," He says, "the tree is known. Do men gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?" And again: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven"; and James: "Faith," he says, "without works is dead. And the demons believe, and tremble. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead." The Apostle likewise, affirming to his children that faith needs works, thus vehemently commands them: "Fornication and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as becomes saints; or obscenity, or foolish talking, or scurrility, which does not pertain to the matter, but rather thanksgiving. For know this, understanding that every fornicator, or unclean person, or covetous man, which is the service of idols, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God." D And confirming these things, he adds: "Let no one deceive you with empty words; for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the children of disobedience. Do not, therefore, become partakers with them. For you were sometime darkness; but now light in the Lord, so walk as children of light. For the fruit of the light is in all goodness and justice and truth, proving what is well-pleasing to God; and do not participate in the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them; and again: "Let all bitterness, and anger, and indignation, and clamor, and blasphemy be taken away from you, with all malice. Be ye therefore imitators of me, as I am of Christ. For whoever of you have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ."
VIII.
Let us examine ourselves, brethren, whether we have put on Christ or not. A Christ is recognized by chastity; for He is chaste, and dwells in those who are chaste. How, therefore, can they be chaste, unless they cease to do the shameful deeds they were doing? For such is God's kindness, that at whatever hour a man turns from his sins, He receives him with joy, and forgets his former sins, just as is written in the Gospel concerning the younger son, who had wastefully squandered a part of his inheritance, and in the end was reduced to such a state that he fed swine, and desired to be filled with the food of the swine. Finally, coming to himself, he realized that there is no satiating of sins. For the more we commit them, the more we are inflamed with the desire for them. Since, therefore, the sting of repentance had touched him, he did not delay, but immediately casting aside the will of the flesh, he returned to his father with humility. For trusting in the mercy of the Father, he hoped that He would not reproach him for the sins he had committed. Wherefore his father also immediately ordered the robe of sanctity to be given to him, and a pledge of paternal love. By this example our Lord Jesus Christ taught us that if we wish to return to Him, we must first abandon the food of the swine, and then He will receive us. He said this, lest, desponding in our heart, we doubt whether He will hear us. Let us, therefore, turn to Him with our whole heart, and let us not be weary of sinning, and He will quickly hear us, for He Himself says: "Ask, and you shall receive; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you." B If, therefore, we wish to ask and seek or knock, let us learn what is to be demanded of Him. "He who came at midnight to his friend: Lend me," he says, "three loaves, because a friend has come to me from his journey." Since, therefore, he persisted in knocking, what he sought, he obtained.IX.
Let us cast away laziness from us, brethren, and let us imitate this constancy of asking, and whatsoever we shall ask, we shall obtain. For He is merciful, nor does He desire anything more than that the sinner should repent and be converted. "Amen, I say to you," He Himself says, "there is joy in heaven over one sinner doing penance." While we are able to flee to His clemency, and to enjoy the riches of His mercy, let us repent with our whole heart; while we are in the body, let us return to Him. The course of this life is short. Which if we do, we shall obtain eternal and incredible joy; but if we convert ourselves backward, we shall be similar to that young man who asked the Lord Jesus what he must do to be saved. When the Lord had answered him: "Sell all that you have, and give to the poor, and take up your cross and follow me."A he showed us that our salvation lies in denying our own will. Hearing this, he went away sorrowful. For he understood that it is indeed a grievous thing to give all one’s possessions to the poor, but a much more grievous one to carry one’s cross. To distribute one’s goods to the poor is one virtue, but it nonetheless also consists in the cross. To carry the cross, however, is to destroy all sin, from which charity also is born; without which there is no cross. Moreover, since the Apostle knew that there are many virtues that one may possess in which there is no charity, and that these are not the perfection of the virtues: "If I speak," he says, "with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And if I should distribute all my goods, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing." Charity is patient, is kind, envieth not, dealeth not perversely, is not puffed up, is not ambitious, seeketh not her own, is not provoked to anger, thinketh no evil. He, therefore, who wishes to walk in the way of charity, withdraws from the sollicitude of all men, whether they be good or bad, and fosters the desire for God in his heart. This desire begets in him a certain righteous anger, with which he repels the enemy. Then the fear of God is nurtured in him, and through fear, charity is made manifest. And he who is of such a kind says with the same confidence as the Apostle: "I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." Blessed is that soul which has attained to such charity.
X. Let us depart from the world, brothers. Let us consider in what state we are. For the Lord Jesus is merciful, and grants rest according to each one’s works, to the great according to their magnitude, and to the small according to their humbleness. "For there are," he says, "many mansions with my Father." For although the kingdom is one, yet each one finds in it his own place and his own work. Let us fight, brothers, against sloth, and let us cast off from us B the veil of darkness, which is forgetfulness, that we may behold the light of repentance. Let us imitate Martha and Mary, who weep in the sight of the Savior, that he may raise up their brother Lazarus, that is, the spirit bound by the many chains of sins. If he be loosed, then the zeal of Mary and Martha will shine forth, and Lazarus will recline without anxiety with Jesus, and Martha will diligently exercise her ministry with joy; Mary, indeed, will bring forth the alabaster jar of ointment and will anoint the feet of the Lord. Whatever is in our power, brothers, let us perform with all our might; and God, according to the multitude of His mercy, will help us. But if we have not guarded our hearts as our fathers did, now at least let us guard them from sins, and let us hope that we too shall find mercy with Him in the time of famine, just as all the saints found it. For although one is the glory of the sun, another the glory of the moon, and one star differs from another in brightness, C yet they are under the same firmament. And the glory and honor of all belongs to God himself, for ever and ever. Amen.
Oration XXII. On the works of the new man.
I. There are three things, beloved, by which the Hebrew is distinguished from others: circumcision, and the Passover, and the Sabbath. For it is written in Genesis: "An infant of eight days shall be circumcised among you, as well the homeborn as the purchased. He who is not circumcised shall be cut off from my people, because he has made my covenant void." The first who was circumcised was Abraham. This is the sign of the new man, which the Lord Jesus admitted in His own holy body. Of this the Apostle also says: "In whom you are circumcised with circumcision not made by hand, in despoiling of the body of the flesh, but in the circumcision of Christ, buried with him in baptism, in whom also you are risen again by the faith of the operation of God; and again: "Put off, according to your former conversation, the old man, who is corrupted according to the desires of error; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, who according to God is created in justice and holiness and truth; and again: "That you may die indeed to sin, but live unto justice." And these things indeed concerning circumcision: which he who does not observe is not circumcised, nor is he truly a Christian, because he has made void the covenant which the Lord Jesus sanctioned with His own holy blood.
II. Now it must be said concerning the holy Passover, of which it is said to Moses: "This is the law of the Passover: No foreigner shall eat of it. Every purchased servant shall not eat of it. Every purchased servant you shall circumcise; and so he shall eat of it. Whoever, D however, has not been circumcised, let him not eat of it. Eat this in one house. You shall gird your loins, and you shall have your shoes on your feet, holding staves in your hands." The Passover is not eaten except with unleavened bread and wild lettuces, and meat roasted at the fire. He did not say: "You shall gird yourselves over your loins," lest anyone should understand it as said concerning a belt. But, "You shall gird your loins," that we may understand it concerning chastity and purity. The sandals, however, signify that we should be prompt and ready to flee and avoid all things that prick and stain the conscience, and avert the mind from its proper contemplation in holiness. By the staff, hope is indicated, and the fortitude of those tending toward the land of promise. These are they who observe the Sabbath. The blood of the lamb signifies the blood of the Lord Jesus, who, having become man, came to us, that He might lead the sons of Israel to the promised inheritance of heaven. They appear who are instructed, and who have the sign clearly imprinted upon their soul. The bunch of hyssop indicates affliction. For He commands that it be eaten with wild lettuces, or bitter herbs. Weigh carefully, O brother, whether you are circumcised, and whether you have anointed the doors of your house with the blood of the immaculate Lamb, whether from all
A earthly thought you remove yourself, and whether you have so instructed yourself as to enter the land of promise without fear.
III. Next, we must speak of the Sabbath, which is proper to those who are circumcised, and who, as we have said, have eaten the holy Passover and, having been liberated from the Egyptians, have seen all of them drowned in the Red Sea and have rested from their bitter servitude. "For six days," it says, "you shall labor." The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord's rest. Whoever has worked on the day of the Sabbath, that soul shall be destroyed. But our Lord Jesus Christ Himself observed the true Sabbath and taught how it ought to be observed. When He walked toward His Passion, but before He ascended the cross, He prepared all things, bearing so many insults and reproaches, neither absolving Himself nor refreshing Himself in any way; indeed, even when He said, "I thirst," they offered Him a sponge filled with vinegar, which, having tasted, He said: "It is finished," and bowing His head, He handed over His spirit. And they took Him down, He who was truly observing the Sabbath. For the Lord Jesus rested on the seventh day and blessed it, because He rested from all His works, by which He had destroyed human infirmities. B For as He entered into His rest, as the Apostle writes, He rested from all His labors, just as God did from His. This is the true Sabbath, and whoever does not observe it is not a Christian. For Jeremiah, lamenting over the people of Israel, says: "Do not bear burdens on the Sabbath day, and do not go forth from the gates of Jerusalem bearing burdens on the Sabbath day."
IV. Woe is me, miserable man, who do not observe these holy commandments, and who bear heavy burdens on the Sabbath day! What are these burdens? Anger is a heavy burden, emulation, hatred, vain glory, detraction, slander, irritation, pride, arrogance, contentiousness, self-love, envy. These belong to the soul. Those of the body are: gluttony, excessive adornment and care of the body, lust, concupiscence, the failing of the heart. All these, and things similar to them, He drove from the bodies of the saints, putting them to death in His own holy body, as the Apostle affirms, by the cross C slaying the enmities in Himself. Whoever, therefore, bears the heavy burdens of sins violates the Sabbath and is not a true Israelite, but deceives himself. For he holds only the name, and will receive nothing from the Lord Jesus, whom he denies by his deeds, reviving the things He killed and doing the things He buried. When, therefore, the Lord Jesus comes in His glory, only the children of Israel—that is, only the true Christians, circumcised not by hand but by the Spirit, whom He chose from all nations—will He lead into His eternal kingdom. For blindness, says the Apostle, has happened in part to the people of Israel, until all the nations enter; and again: "Whoever follows this rule, peace be upon them, and upon the Israel of God." You perceive that they are D the Israelites of God who have the circumcision of the heart and the observation of the Sabbath—that is, the destruction of sins. For, as the same Apostle says, it is not he who is a Jew in the manifest flesh who is a Jew; nor is that circumcision which is visible, but he who is a Jew in the hidden, and the circumcision is of the heart, in spirit, not in the letter.
V. Let us attend to ourselves, brethren. How long shall we labor in vain? How long shall we obey our adversary who is within us, and who entices us to vices, calling us away from virtue, and does not permit us to lift up our eyes to perceive the light of the divinity? Examine yourself, unhappy one, you who have been baptized into Christ and His death. Consider what kind of death He Himself underwent for you, and whether you are following in His footsteps. Show me your morals. He is without sin, and He has proposed Himself to you in all things as an example to be imitated. He embraced poverty; you, however, abhor poverty. He had nowhere to lay His head; you seek a secure and comfortable home. He bore insults; you do not wish to bear them. He did not return evil for evil; you are desirous of vengeance. He, while He was suffering, did not threaten; you, while you are laboring, lose your temper. He, amid insults, was not in the least troubled; you, affected by no insult, are troubled. He benignly called sinners to Himself; you, with your words, prick even your friends. He bore injuries with an even mind; you, provoked by no injury, are indignant. He was gentle toward those who had fallen into sin; you are proud even toward those who are better than you. He handed Himself over for those by whom He had been offended, so that He might redeem them; you harm even those who have deserved well of you. Consider what He gave you, and what you in turn return to Him. Recognize Him by His works, and yourself by yours. If you are dead with Him, who does these works—that is, these sins?
VI. Let us diligently attend to His holy commandments, most beloved, and we shall deny our own wills. If we love those who cherish us, what more do we do than the Gentiles? If we pray for those who deserve well, the publicans do the same. If you are delighted by the speech of those who praise you, the same thing happens to the Jews. What then do you do more, you who are dead to sin and live in Christ Jesus? If you only love those who serve you, what more do you do than sinners? Do not they themselves do the same? If you pursue with hatred those who cause you trouble, who do not obey, who provoke you, you are similar to a Gentile; you should rather have prayed for them, that they might be forgiven. If you are pained by insults and indignities, the publicans are also pained. Examine and weigh yourself, you who have been baptized in the name of Christ, whether these are works befitting your name. Are you going to carry these with you before Him on the day of His glory, so that you may be crowned? A crown will be given for the victory over those perturbations which your King once overcame, proposing Himself to you as an example. For the King Himself
King, and the Lord of lords, when on that day he shall show himself to all nations to be beheld in majesty, he will bring with him his tokens, namely those scars which he bore for our sake. But you will have nothing similar to carry in your body. Wherefore he shall say to you: I know you not. Then, seeing all the saints who met death for his name's sake, stand blushing in their presence. Weigh the lives of all the saints, and you will find that when they sustained evils, they did not requite them. The blood of them all cries out: A Avenge us from all who inhabit the earth. But I, who love leisure and quiet, what shall I say on that day when I shall perceive there the prophets, and apostles, and martyrs, and the rest of the saints, who, giving no sign of vengeance or anger, stood strong and constant in enduring injuries? When that day shall arrive, it will not be in any man's power what he might answer; but each one shall rise clothed in his own works, whether good or evil, as if in garments. The works themselves shall speak, and shall stand in each man's place.
VII. Blessed is he who diligently applies himself to that care, that he may cast off the works which drag down into hell, and put on those which lead to heaven. For as the Apostle says: For if our earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved, we know that we have a building not made with hands in heaven. The time of our life is nothing, and when our hour shall have come, an account will be harshly demanded of us. Let not our minds, therefore, be lax and dissolute, but let us labor with all zeal and diligence, and supplicate assiduously to God's kindness that he may help us. Let us not be angry at our brothers because they have injured us in word or deed. For if they have proceeded to be workers and vessels of the devil, they are constituted adversaries of God, until they are dissolved and flee from the stadium. In all things, most dear brothers, embrace humility and patience; and always apply yourselves to this thought, that you may renounce your own will; for self-will destroys all virtues. He who rightly disposes and governs his thoughts, denies his own will; and embracing gentleness, he flees from all discord and contention as from a dragon. For this overturns the whole edifice of virtue, and pours darkness into the mind so that it cannot behold the light of honesty. Avoid this vice, therefore, which insinuates itself into virtues and entangles them until it destroys them. For not even the Lord Jesus ascended the B cross before he had cast Judas out from the midst of the disciples. For unless a man excises this foul vice, he cannot progress according to God; for from it all evils originate. He who labors under this vice does not wish to bear his own cross, but follows vain glory; and finally, all things which God hates C inhabit the mind of a contentious and arrogant man.
VIII. He who considers his own sins easily attains humility. It is of humility to subject one's own will to the will of one's neighbor. Purity of heart pays to God acceptable prayers. He to whom his own vices are displeasing occupies himself with mourning and tears. Charity does not judge one's neighbor. Patience does not remember injuries. He who loves God does not desire vengeance. He who cultivates silence and quiet is not moved because he is less obeyed. A soul studious of poverty is innocent. He who controls his own senses lives in peace. He who is meek endures all things. He who is merciful easily forgives. The renunciation of self-will begets all these things, and joins them with the lovable virtue of the bond of peace. I perceive nothing in all the Scriptures which God demands more of a man than that in all things he should humble himself before his neighbor, and deny his own will, and always implore God’s help, that he may rouse his eyes from the sleep of forgetfulness and from the error of captivity. The nature of man is mutable, and prone to evil; but it is God's to have mercy, and to strengthen our weakness; God’s to turn us to himself; God’s to bestow grace upon us, that we may give him thanks; God’s to defend us and snatch us from the hands of our enemies; it is God’s finally to receive honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. But these are the things which beget contention: talkativeness, and curiosity, and flattery, and arrogance, and duplicity of tongue. The soul of him in whom these are, is devoid of virtues. Unless one has applied himself with great sweat to each of the virtues, he will not be able to come to the quiet of the Son of God. Do not, therefore, neglect your life, brothers, nor let your mind grow sluggish in the works of malice, lest time fail before you aspire to the quiet of the Son of God, which lies in this, that in all things you embrace humility and innocence, and that you hate no one; and that you do not acquiesce in any thing hateful to God, but abhorring all sins, you may be dead to all works of malice. For thus God who does not lie, will be present to us, and will confirm our weakness with his mercy. Amen.
ORATION XXIII. On Perfection.
1. Unless one possesses faith in God, as one of the Fathers says, and burns with assiduous desire for him, and harms no one, and does not return evil for evil, but afflicts himself, and cultivates humility, and chastity, and humanity, and renounces the world, and is meek and patient, and prays to God with assiduous labor of the heart, and embraces true charity, and does not return to things which are behind, or strive toward deeper things, nor trust in his own good works and sacrifices D
confides, let him implore divine assistance daily, for he cannot attain salvation: so sharp and vigilant are the adversaries of man. Do not despise, brother, nor neglect your conscience, nor trust in yourself at all, even if you seem to be of some value in the sight of God. For we are besieged by adversaries on all sides. Affliction, when considered, deletes the stains of past negligence. And the chastisement of the senses heals the wounds of the interior enemies. Perfect love according to God resists hidden foes. Holiness, by means of secret wars overcome, leads one to the rest of the Son of God. And visible holiness preserves the virtues. The knowledge of God acts so that we may flee to Him in the time of temptation, and, protected by His guard, be superior. He who does not rely on his own labors feels the assistance of God more. He who seeks God piously from his soul in truth, stands in fear lest he displease God. For he is always stimulated by his conscience, that he has failed in something. Where there is a stimulus, there is an accusation; where there is an accusation, there is no freedom. But if, by praying, he notices that he is pricked by no stimulus of malice, then he is truly free, and has entered into holy rest by the will of God.
B II. If you have seen that good fruits are not choked by any of the enemy’s tares, yet, even if you no longer fight with the senses, enemies will not cease to attack you, relying on their own malice. And if the cloud has overshadowed the tabernacle, and neither the sun has scorched you by day nor the moon by night: and all the apparatus of the tabernacle has been found in you, so that you may place and guard it according to the will of God (for surely victory has been brought to you through God); then He Himself will overshadow the tabernacle, because He is, and He Himself goes before, and prepares where it is to be set (16). For unless He Himself commands in which place it is to be set, it cannot endure, as it says in Scripture. It is a great danger, so long as a man has not known himself, and does not clearly know that it is not in him to be set free from those who provoke him and incite him to anger. It behooves us, therefore, to flee to His kindness with fear, and assiduously to repeat in our memory His benefits, and to embrace holy humility, which may never at any time depart from our heart, which may always set our sins before our eyes, and preserve the good, if any there be in us, and defend us until the end, and make us not trust in ourselves.
III. Furthermore, he who judges his neighbor, and is angry with his brother, and condemns and despises him, or teaches with anger, or slanders anyone, is alien to the mercy with which the saints are endowed, and to other excellent virtues. For such vices lose the labors of men, and shake off good fruits. If anyone says he mourns for his sins, but does not depart from them, he deceives himself. He who aspires to rest, and is not solicitous to dispel the ailments of the soul, is blind, and unskilled in the holy building up of virtues. He who, putting aside the cure of his own sins, studies to heal others, acts preemptively. Before he sets out to do that, he ought to wipe away his own sins with tears: and let him implore the mercy of God that He may forgive him, and let him provide so much strength and fortitude that he may never again fall into the same, or offend Him by thought, or word, or deed. Blessed is he who so conducts himself in truth. He who truly performs penance is not occupied in judging his neighbor. For each man’s own sins provide enough trouble, and do not leave room to attend to another’s. He who returns evil for evil is far from true penance. He who, captured by the desire for glory, is implicated in worldly business, does not mourn his sins from the heart. He who now affirms that this or that is good, or evil, will be confounded in his own heart. For while we wish to judge those things which are not our own, we are deceived, and thus distracted, so that we have no leisure to know our own sins. C
IV. If you are indignant at being insulted, you are not performing true penance. If you grieve when your possessions are taken from you, the fear of God is not in you. If you are disturbed because someone has attributed something false to you, the fear of God is not in you. If you gladly hear your own praises, the fear of God is not in you. If in mutual conversations you wish your own words to prevail, the fear of God is not in you. If you have pained yourself because your discourse is despised, the fear of God is not in you. For all these things indicate that the old man is still vigorous, and that there is no one who fights against him, and who embraces a sorrow that is true and pleasing to God. The eyes of the mind must be opened, so that we may know ourselves, and know that he who follows his own will is constituted an enemy of God. If you have kept the commandments of God, and have directed your works from His will, and have noticed that you cannot please Him by yourself, and have always kept your sins before your eyes, you will find a shield set against your adversary, who tries to conquer you through the pride by which you seem righteous to yourself; and you will preserve the building which the sorrow of penance constructs. Then you will understand that you are known to yourself, and where you are, and your heart will not be puffed up as if victory were won. For, unless a man has stood in judgment, and heard the sentence, and known his own place, he cannot know whether he pleases God or not. The sorrow which pricks the heart according to God can keep the senses in their duty, and sobriety can preserve the mind whole. But a man ought never to trust in himself, but rather to be solicitous as long as he is in the body. Blessed are those who never trust in their own works, but, always fearful, do not dare to meet God, and having known His majesty and their own infirmity, study to obey His will as He wishes, and thus mourn for themselves, and do not judge others, but leave judgment to God, the judge of all.
V. When anyone has given himself wholly to God, and has departed perfect according to His will, then he will find himself written in the book of the living, and the angels will testify that he has escaped the princes of the left. Then he will stand among the blessed spirits. But while the war rages, in
fear a man is moved; and if he prevails today, he knows not A whether he will be victorious tomorrow; for the heart is held in suspense by an uncertain struggle. But he who has already received the prize is untroubled, and does not fear whither those three parts tend which are already joined in peace in God—namely, soul, body, and spirit, as the Apostle says. For when these three have become one through the operation of the Holy Spirit, they can no longer be separated. For Christ has died and risen, and dies no more; death shall no longer have dominion over him; for his death has become our salvation. And through his death, sin has been blotted out forever. And his resurrection has become life for those who believe in him, so that they may live in God and bring forth the fruit of righteousness. Do not think that you have won while you are still fighting. For the life of man upon earth is a warfare. Whether we watch or whether we sleep, the adversary does not cease B to attack us. He who fights in the stadium, if he is prudent, does not sing his victory chant before the victory. But the imprudent man, even if he falls, is nonetheless boastful and deems himself a victor. For this reason, the Lord, when sending his disciples to preach, said: "Salute no one by the way; but when you enter a house, salute it; and if a son of peace is there, remain with him." And Elisha to Gehazi, when he sent him: "If a man meets you," he said, "do not salute him; and if anyone salutes you, do not answer him." Yet Gehazi did not raise the boy. But when the man of God had come, he saw the boy lying on the bed, and he closed the door upon himself and upon the boy, and he fought with each individual sense, and going down into the house, he walked once C hither and thither, and when the boy’s flesh had become warm, through the will of the Spirit of God his eyes were opened.
VI. What shall we say, poor wretches that we are, who love the glory of the world more than the glory of God? Who consider neither how we must fight or contend for rest, nor understand the patience of God, who allows the tares to grow with the good wheat; nor, before that has grown and become perfect, does he permit the tares to be gathered. And Gehazi finished his journey, but nonetheless he could not raise the boy, because he loved the glory of men more than the glory of God. Blessed are the eyes that look to God with humility, and are concerned how they may heal their wounds, and wash away their sins with tears and beg for mercy. Woe to those who waste their time, and think themselves to be without sin, and trample upon their own conscience, D and will not perform repentance. The farmer who casts his seed, if it does not germinate, complains that he has wasted his expense and his labor. So too, even if a man knows all mysteries and all knowledge, and has performed many virtues and cures, and has afflicted himself with various tribulations, unless he sees the fruit of charity, he ought to be struck with great fear. For on every side he is attacked by the treasons, snares, and deceits of the enemy, who hopes, and believes, and endures.
VII. O how laborious is the way of God! Narrow, as he himself says, is the gate, and strait is the way that leads to life, and few there are who find it. But we, sluggish and slothful and given to pleasures, think rest consists in the fact that we do not bear the yoke of him who said: "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart: and you shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." What wise and God-fearing man does not contend with all his might to keep the divine commandments, and yet, when he has done everything, acknowledges himself unworthy to invoke the name of God? Our Lord Jesus Christ was made man for our sake, that he might heal our infirmities, that we might walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit, and he revealed to us the will of the Father. And he said to his disciples: "When you have done all things which I command you, say: We are unprofitable servants; for we have done that which we ought to do." If anyone sees a viper or a scorpion, or anything else poisonous, he flees away in terror: and the imprudent and unhappy soul, when it sees deadly things, does not flee or withdraw, but boldly associates with them. Therefore, it consumes all its time barren and without fruit.
ORATION XXIV.
On tranquility.
In the way of the virtues there is slipping, there are enemies, there is change, there is abundance, there is mediocrity, there is want, there is sorrow, there is joy, there is labor and anguish of mind, there is rest, there is progress, there is force. For we are making a journey, until we arrive at rest. Tranquility, however, is void of all perturbations, and lacks nothing. For it is in God, and God is in it. It has no enemies, no slipping, no unbelief, no labor of perturbation, no desire for anything. Its gifts, in short, are great and innumerable. He who labors under any perturbation is far from this. This is that charity which the Lord Jesus taught us to show to all. Some who are unskilled think they have reached this, when they are still troubled by the diseases of the soul, and are defiled by the impurity of the body, and are most remote from every virtue. Forgive me, I beseech you, through God: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
ORATION XXV.
Of the same to Peter the abbot, his disciple.
I. Regarding what you write to me, that you wish to perform repentance for your sins, if God has freed you from the solicitude of this world, you say rightly. For it is impossible that a mind wrapped in the cares of the world should serve God. "You cannot," says the Lord, "serve God and mammon." By mammon he signifies all the business of the world. And unless a man has left these, he cannot serve God. The service of God requires that while he...
A worships, and prays, and praises, he retains neither malice in his heart, nor hatred, nor envy, nor shameful desire. For all these things cast shadows upon the wretched soul, so that it cannot serve God in purity, nor bless him in secret. These things prevent it from running to God, and with the sweetness of charity and the gentleness of heart, from praying to him holily from the soul, so that he may illuminate it. These are the cause why it does not make progress according to God, and why it does not cut away all perturbations. This, indeed, we cannot attain, unless we withdraw from all the troubles of the world. For the soul is assailed from without and from within. From without, by the occupations of this age, that it may satisfy the body; from within, by its own sicknesses, which are enemies of virtue. But it can neither see these nor cure them unless it be freed from worldly business and cares. For this reason, the Lord Jesus denies that they can be his disciples who do not renounce their own will. For the will dominates as much in internal as in external actions. And therefore, lest it destroy the mind, as the Lord commands, it is to be denied. For the mind is killed when the soul is detained by worldly business and anxieties. Then indeed do sicknesses rage and multiply within. But if the soul, obeying the words of the Lord Jesus, has cast away all its own wills, it will abhor all the works of this age. Then the mind, being aroused, will be confirmed, and will drive all sicknesses from itself, and will carefully guard the soul, lest, turning itself back to its former state, it fall into the hands of its enemies.
B II. For the soul is like a young woman living with her husband; if perchance the husband should go abroad, she shakes off her fear and neglects domestic matters. But when he returns home, she returns quickly to her duty, and with fear arranges everything according to her husband’s will; he for his part provides for his house in all things necessary. So also the mind watches over the soul assiduously, and brings forth from it and nurtures good works as children; and thus they come together so as to be made one heart. The soul is subordinated to the mind as a woman to her husband: "For," as the Apostle says, "the head of the woman is the man." And again: "The man," he says, "ought not to cover his head, for he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of the man. For the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man. For the man was not created for the woman, but the woman for the man. Therefore the woman ought to cover her head, and because of the angels. Nevertheless, neither is the woman without the man, nor the man without the woman, in the Lord. For as the woman is of the man, so also is the man by the woman, but all things are of God." When, therefore, the soul obeys the mind in the Lord, then we pour out prayers to God in chastity, then we bless God from a holy heart, then we are illuminated by God, then we are made those true worshippers whom God requires. Such are they of whom he himself says: "I will dwell in them and walk among them." Then that is fulfilled: "If two of you shall agree, whatsoever they shall ask in my name, it shall C be granted by them. For God wills that we be free from all those things which he himself destroyed in his body, and which defile us either within or without. "Remain," he says, "in me, and I in you." You see, brother, how he wishes that we remain in him through good works, so that he may remain in us through holiness.
III. But I, someone will say, remain in him through baptism, but I cannot perform the works. Listen, most dear brother: Whoever receives baptism receives it for the destruction of sin. For we have been buried with him into death, as the Apostle says, so that he may destroy the body of sin, that is, that we may no longer serve sin. Christ cannot remain together with sin. Wherefore, if Christ dwells in you, sin is dead, but the spirit lives through justice. "For," as the Apostle says, "the woman who is under a husband, while he lives, is bound by the law. But if her husband be dead, she shall be freed from the law of the husband. Therefore, if while her husband lives she shall be with another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband be dead, she shall be freed from the law, so that she is not an adulteress if she be with another man." If, therefore, anyone wishes to know whether Christ dwells in him, let him understand it from his own thoughts. For as long as sin rules the heart, God does not dwell in it, nor does his spirit find rest in it. God dwells in the man who performs good works; and the man in God, whose heart is free from sin. "He who adheres to a harlot," says the Apostle, "is made one body with her. And he who adheres to the Lord is one spirit with him." By the harlot is understood every vice. If, therefore, the soul has been freed, and has escaped everything that opposes it in this air, then it remains in God and drinks from his spirit, and thus that saying is fulfilled: "He who adheres to the Lord is one spirit." And it learns how it ought to pray, worshipping him assiduously, and adhering to him without intermission. Likewise, he himself remains in it and rests, opening and bestowing upon it his incredible honors and gifts: for it is regenerated by him through baptism and the infusion of the Holy Spirit. D IV. Furthermore, he who is born of God, as it is written, does not sin, nor does the evil one touch him. "Unless you be converted," he says, "and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." "As newborn infants," says Peter, "desire the rational, and without guile, milk, that you may grow thereby." What are the works of an infant? If an infant is struck, he weeps. He recognizes those who smile at him with a laugh. He is not angered by an affection of insult. He is not lifted up by praises. If you venerate another in his place, he is not saddened. If you take away his property, he is not disturbed. If he is established in few things, he cares not at all. He calls no one into judgment. He does not contend for his fortunes. He hates no one. If he is poor, he does not sorrow. If he is rich, he is not proud. If he sees a woman, he does not covet. No lust, nor anxiety, dominates him. He judges no one. Ne-
In things he does not know, he does not boast. He does not mock the shape or dress of his neighbor. He stirs up no enmity with any man. He does not dissimulate. He does not seek worldly dignities. He does not set his heart on accumulating riches. He does not love greed. He is not stubborn. He is not litigious. He is not ambitious in teaching. If he is stripped, he is not anxious. He is not saddened. He does not defend his own will. He does not fear hunger. He does not fear wicked and evil men. He does not dread serpents or wild beasts. If war should break out, he does not shudder. Such are those of whom our Lord Jesus Christ says: "Unless you are converted and become as little children, you will not enter into the kingdom of God." B
What man, hearing these words, does not tremble? Or what wise man, desirous of the salvation of his soul, would not cast from his mind every indignation against his neighbor? Or who, fearing the fire of hell, would not expel hatred from his heart, lest he be driven out of the kingdom? He has set before us a brief word, saying: "Unless you are converted, and become as little children, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven." A bitter sentence for those who indulge their own will, love the world, and do not acknowledge the gift of the Holy Spirit, who, upon whomsoever he comes, makes them forget all iniquities, and teaches them the things that belong to him: in place of anger, gentleness; in place of enmity, peace; in place of contention, humility; in place of hatred, charity; in place of insult, patience. Such are those to whom regeneration has befallen. C
V. Furthermore, where an infant has grown a little, and malice begins to dwell in him, the Apostle rebukes him, saying: "That now we may not be children fluctuating and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the wickedness of men, in craftiness, to the circumvention of error. But practicing the truth in charity, let us grow in all things in him who is the head, Christ; and elsewhere: "As to little ones," he says, "in Christ, I gave you milk to drink, not meat; for you were not able, but neither are you able now, for you are still carnal"; and in another place: "As long," he says, "as the heir is a child, he differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; but is under tutors and governors, until the time appointed by the father. So we also, when we were children, were serving under the elements of the world." The same again: "Flee," he says, "youthful desires." But teaching us that we should avoid such childhood, he says: "Do not become children in sense, but in malice be little ones; but in sense be perfect." Therefore, the works of the little ones whom the Lord requires are pointed out by the Apostle. Furthermore, in these words: "Laying away all malice, and all guile, and dissimulations, and envies, and all detractions, as newborn infants," etc., you have understood, brother, what is the sense of the words of our Lord Jesus, when he says: "Amen, amen I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." These words indeed bring greater terror, since they are pronounced with a double affirmation. For "Amen" is the voice of one swearing. Therefore, the Apostle Paul: "Because," he says, "he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself: Unless blessing I shall bless." D VI. Let us therefore diligently consider these things assiduously with fear and trembling. As often as the devil, our enemy, incites us against our neighbor, or as often as anyone harasses us, or treats us with insult, or constructs a calumny against us, or our neighbor contends with us, or has not been obedient to what is said; wherefore bitter anger, or indignation, or hatred seizes us against him, so as to pour darkness upon the soul: let us recall to our memory the word of the Lord.
VII. Let us therefore strive to root out and abolish from our heart the things the great Apostle said, so that we may come to the measure of a little child. For those who circumcise and amputate these things, these again arrive at the holy and great and perfect age. For when he had breathed into their face, "Receive," he says, "the Holy Spirit," he appeared to them near the sea of Galilee, saying, "Have you anything to eat?" By the insufflation of the Spirit he signified that he had made them little children. Yet they were not children in age. Again it is written: "Behold I and my children, whom God gave me." Since, therefore, the children had participated in flesh and blood, he also himself was likewise made a partaker of them, that through death he might destroy him who had the empire of death, that is to say, the devil, and might deliver them. Of whose flesh and blood was he made a partaker to their likeness, unless of those who had cast off all malice, and had arrived at the measure of holy infancy? And they themselves again become perfect, as the Apostle says, "until we all meet into the unity of faith of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ"; and again: "Make an increase of the body unto the edification of itself in charity." To those who are of such a kind, the Apostle John speaks: "I write these things," he says, "to you, little children, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one." Do you see those who are little children, becoming fighters against the enemy? For they are stripped of his armor, which is malice. And these same fathers escape, and arrive at the measure of perfection. Because to them are committed mysteries and revelations, until they attain wisdom, and unity, and goodness, and gentleness, and chastity. These are they who honor Christ in his body.
VIII. Since these things are so, brother, and a great famine occupies the earth, let us strive with all zeal, that nothing may be wanting to us; but goodness and fortitude and
A constancy let us ask for, that the envious enemy may not deceive us, and persuade us to cast off shame and mercy, and to commit sins and wickedness. Let us therefore constantly beseech God with David, saying: *Look upon me, and hear me, O Lord my God. Lighten my eyes, that I sleep never in death; lest at any time my enemy say: I have prevailed against him.* For *they that trouble me will rejoice when I have stumbled.* If, therefore, they should attack us, let us cry out, saying: *O God, who shall be like to thee? hold not thy peace, neither be still, O God. For lo, thy enemies have made a noise: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. They have taken a malicious counsel against thy people, and they have consulted against thy saints. They have said: Come and let us destroy them, so that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.* Wherefore, supplicating the Holy Spirit, he said: *O my God, make them like a wheel, and as stubble before the face of the wind. Fill their faces with shame; and they shall know that thou art the only God.* Behold how those who are fortified by faith arm their heart against the enemy, and confirm themselves unto the holy rock which is Christ; and with fortitude of mind, *They have compassed me about*, they say, *like bees, and they have burned as fire among thorns; and in the name of the Lord, for I have been revenged on them.*
IX. Furthermore, if we see those who, by their malice (that is, sloth), have surrounded us, either to dissolve our soul with pleasure, or to provoke our anger against our neighbor if he has done anything amiss, or to move our eyes to covet the beauty of bodies, or to cast at us the discourse of our neighbor like poison, or to entice us to carp at the words of others, or to sow discords among brethren, saying, "This one is good, but that one is bad": let us not succumb to their frauds, but rather cry out with David with great fortitude of mind: *The Lord is the protector of my life. If armies in camp should stand against me, my heart shall not fear. If a battle should rise up against me, in this will I be confident. One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; that I may see the delight of the Lord, and go to his holy temple. For he hath protected me; and behold now he hath exalted my head above my enemies.* These things belong to those who rouse their mind from the dead, whom the Apostle calls night: *We are not*, says he, *of the night, nor of darkness.* But he rebukes those who, given over to sloth, neglect themselves: *They that sleep*, he says, *sleep in the night; and they that are drunk, are drunk in the night*; and again: *The day of the Lord shall so come as a thief, and they shall not escape*, because they are in the night. But to those who rouse their mind from the vices which are night: *Putting on*, he says, *the breastplate of faith, and of charity, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.*
X. Therefore, let us watch against the works of the dead, and let us diligently attend to the soul, that we may do nothing A that is contrary to nature. For the nature of the soul is mutable, and similar to iron, which, if it is neglected, is consumed by rust, but being refined by fire is purified; and as long as it remains in the fire, it becomes like unto it, nor can anyone touch it, because it is fire. In like manner, while the soul is occupied and converses with God, it becomes fire; and it burns its enemies, who are accustomed to oppress it when it is lulled to sleep by the slumber of negligence. As iron, therefore, the soul is renewed and made holy, nor is it corrupted anymore in anything of this world, but it rests in its own proper nature which it has from God. But if it has departed from its nature, it perishes. For just as terrestrial animals, if they are submerged in water, die, because they are of a terrestrial nature; but fish if extracted to land die, because they are of the nature of water; and birds indeed rest in the air, but if they descend to the ground, they fear lest they be captured: so also, if the soul has deflected from its own nature, it is immediately destroyed. Wherefore those who have been gifted with those divine favors fear the frauds and deceits of the world, and flee its customs, lest they fall into snares and death.
XI. Such a soul, not even if it wished, can love the world. For it remembers what it was before it was in God; and what befell it from the world; and how badly it was treated by it. For just as when an enemy king enters a city which he has captured, the citizens, terrified by fear, give themselves to the victor with outstretched hands; and he, immediately casting down the images of the other king and abolishing the laws, establishes his own images and new laws: C if the citizens should secretly announce to the legitimate king that he should bring them aid, and he, in his wrath, should lead an army against the enemy, and the citizens, having understood the matter, should open the gates to their king; he, entering, kills the captured enemy, and restores his own statues and the former laws, with the adversary king's statues and laws overturned and abrogated. Then the city exults with incredible joy. The king, moreover, dwells in it, and so fortifies it that no one can ever possess it again. And he teaches his citizens to handle arms, so that they fear no adversary. So also the soul, after receiving baptism, was captured by the devil, who overturned and laid it waste according to his own lust, and having cast out the image of the true king, erected his own, and caused the miserable soul to be empty of the cares and solicitudes of this age, and to wallow in all vices and sins. But after the kindness of the holy and great king Jesus Christ recalled it to penitence, it joyfully opened its doors to its king. And he, entering, expelled the adversary, and abolished his shameful image and nefarious laws, and vindicated the soul into its former liberty; and, instating his own holy image in it, he gave it holy laws, handed down the skill of fighting, and fortified all its senses, and thereafter rested in it as in his own. For it cannot be that
A the soul should enter into the rest of the Son of God, unless it possesses his image. For just as no merchant accepts a coin on which the image of the king is not clearly struck, nor does the moneychanger approve it, nor does the king admit it into his treasury: so the soul, unless it preserves the image of the great King and our Lord Jesus Christ, is not approved by the angels, nor admitted by the King himself; rather, it hears: How did you enter here, not having my image?
XII. Furthermore, the sign of the image is charity. In this, he says, shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. But his charity cannot exist in us, when the soul is so divided that it both seeks God and loves the things that are of the world. For just as a bird cannot fly with a single wing, so the soul cannot progress toward God if it inclines in another part B to the world. And just as a ship, if anything necessary for it is lacking, cannot traverse the sea: so the soul, if any virtue is missing from it, cannot cross the sea of perturbations. And just as sailors, if they have fine garments, and gloves, and women's shoes, cannot perform their duty and navigate, because it is necessary that they be unencumbered: so the soul cannot overcome the wicked storms of the adversary spirits unless it is free from the cares and solicitudes of the world. And just as a soldier about to engage in conflict with the enemies of his prince cannot resist if his weapons are lacking: so man cannot oppose the adversaries of Christ, that is, the vices and perturbations, if he is destitute of the armor of virtues. And just as (17) if some part of a wall has collapsed, the enemies will be able to enter the city through it, even though the gates are guarded: so if one allows the battlements C of the spiritual edifice to collapse in any part through some vice or wickedness, even if he otherwise diligently guards the gates of the senses, the adversary devil enters and overturns everything.
XIII. Nor do I invent these things myself, but divine Scripture itself bears witness: And God said to Noah: You only have I seen righteous and perfect before me in this generation; to Abraham, however: Walk, he says, before me, and be perfect, and I will place my covenant with you forever; and Isaac blessing his son Jacob says: May my God strengthen you, until you can do all his will. And it is written in Numbers: Whoever has a vow upon himself, let him keep himself, and let him not drink wine, or vinegar made from wine, or anything that can intoxicate, up to the grape seed; and in Deuteronomy: If you go out, he says, to battle against your adversaries, keep yourself from every evil word and deed, until your enemy is delivered into your hands. Furthermore, you will keep none of these seven nations captive at all, lest it teach you to D sin against me. And teaching us not to despise those who say: When shall we be able to destroy them, when there are so many? You will not be able, he says, to destroy them in one year, lest by chance the land be left desert, and the wild beasts multiply against you, but little by little, until you increase in number. And God will extend his boundaries. Often also God commanded them, saying: Beware, lest you enter a covenant with the Canaanites, whom I am about to destroy from before your face. Now when Jesus the son of Nun was besieging Jericho so as to destroy it, A curse, he says, you shall establish upon it, and all things that are in it. And when he wished to engage in battle with the enemy, Israel could not resist, but fled from his face, because of the small curse which Achan had stolen. And Joshua, falling on his face, cried out in the presence of God: Israel, he says, has turned his back to his enemies. And what shall I do? And the prince of the host of the Lord said to him: Because there is a curse in you, Israel, you will not be able to resist your enemies. And he did not proceed to battle before he removed Achan from the midst. To these things we see how God despoiled Saul of his kingdom, because of the curse which he had taken from Amalek.
XIV. What of the fact that God did not hear Israel, when Jonathan had dipped his rod in honey, and had brought it to his mouth? Ecclesiastes besides, teaching that the battle line of virtues is broken by any least vice, used to say: Dead flies destroy the sweetness of the ointment. And Ezekiel: On whatever day, he says, the righteous man shall turn from the way of his justice, and shall do iniquity, all his justices shall be consigned to oblivion; and the Apostle: A little leaven, he says, corrupts the whole lump. But Ananias and Sapphira his wife, when they had cheated from the price of the field by lying, suddenly fell before the feet of the apostles, and expired. If anyone, says James, shall have kept the whole law, but shall have offended in one, he is become guilty of all. God warns us that we should turn back to him: In what day, he says through Ezekiel, the impious shall turn from the way of his impiety, and shall do justice and judgment, I will not remember his iniquities, but by life he shall live. For I do not desire the death of the sinner, but rather that he should return, and live. The Lord God says: Return, and be converted. Why does the house of Israel perish? And Jeremiah says: Return to me, house of Israel, and I will be propitious to you, says the Lord; and the same again: Does not he who falls, rise again? And he who is turned away, will he not return? Why therefore is this people turned away with a contentious aversion? They have held fast to a lie, and have not willed to return to me, says the Lord. Return to me, and I will return to you; and the Lord: If, he says, you forgive men their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you your sins. But if you do not forgive, neither
will your Father forgive you. If any of you, says the Apostle, be overtaken in any fault, you who are spiritual, correct such a one in the spirit of meekness; and James says: My brethren, he says, if any one of you err from the truth, and one convert him, he ought to know that he who causes a sinner to be converted from the error of his way shall save his soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins. See how all the testimonies of the Scriptures A admonish us to examine ourselves, so that, while we are intent upon the pursuit of virtue, we may not harbor malice, or anger against our neighbor, which destroys our labors, and that our Lord Jesus Christ may not refuse us help at that time when our enemies afflict us. For with these He is indignant when He says: O wicked servant, I forgave you all the debt, because you besought me; ought you not to have had compassion on your fellow-servant? And enraged, he handed him over to the torturers, until he should pay all the debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, if you do not forgive every one to your brother from your hearts. Examine yourself, brother, and daily search your heart in the sight of God, that you may understand whether indignation resides therein, or hatred toward your brother, or contumely, or envy, or pride. For if it be infected with such venom, it will not be able to please God. Bring to your memory those words of the Lord Jesus: Unless everyone forgives his neighbor from the whole heart - to you, so that no malice may separate you from His charity, neither gold, nor silver, nor houses, nor pleasure, nor hatred, nor contumely, nor any harsher word, nor any other poison of the dragon by which he may have breathed upon our heart. Let us not be troubled, but rather let us fix our gaze upon the bronze serpent, which Moses made by the word of the Lord. For he affixed it to wood upon the summit of the mountain, so that whoever had been bitten by the serpents, looking immediately upon it, might be healed. Our Lord Jesus Christ has been likened to the bronze serpent. Since he is an enemy whom Adam heard, an enemy was established against God. But our Lord Jesus Christ was made perfect man in all things, sin excepted, like Adam for our sake. Moreover, the serpent is bronze, because B it is like Him who was the enemy of God; yet it does not have an evil thought, nor venom, nor malice, nor does it hide itself, nor attack, nor does it have the spirit of an enemy. Our Lord Jesus Christ underwent this figure, so that He might extinguish that venom which Adam had imbibed from the mouth of the dragon. Therefore, the nature which had been depraved was brought back to its own state. What is it, says the Lord to Moses, that you have in your hand? And he said: A rod. Cast it, He says, upon the ground. Which being cast was turned into a serpent. And Moses fled from its face. And God said to him: Extend your hand, and take hold of its tail. Which when he had done, the serpent was turned into a rod. And God said: Take the rod, which was turned into a serpent, and you will strike the rivers of Egypt in the sight of Pharaoh, and its water will be turned into blood. And again taking the same rod: Strike the Red Sea, and it will dry up. Likewise, strike the rock with the same rod, and it will pour forth water.
XV. Whosoever, therefore, fears to fall into hell, let him expel all malice from his heart. Attend to your heart, brother, and be vigilant. For our enemies are most cunning, and they never sleep. Know that it is impossible for a man, while he acts evilly, to do good. Yet he can do evil under the appearance of good. Therefore, the Lord exhorted us to be vigilant: For the gate is narrow, and the way is confined which leads to life, and few find it. But broad and spacious is the way which leads to perdition, and there are many who enter through it. Beware, He says, of false prophets who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are ravening wolves; by their fruits you shall know them. What are the fruits of these? All the sins to which they strive to impel us. Nevertheless, those who love God with their whole heart cannot be deceived by false prophets. Who, says the Apostle, shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation? Or distress? Or famine? Or peril? Or nakedness? Or the sword? For I am certain that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of Christ. Do you perceive, my brother, that there is nothing in the world that can separate those who love God with their whole heart from His love? Attend therefore C D
XVI. Do you see how he who walks in the footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ, after he has been made an enemy and a serpent, is turned into a rod, and no adversary can resist him? This mystery is great. If, therefore, the dragon pours his venom upon us, let us fix our eyes upon the Crucified, who for our sake suffered all these things, and yet is not changed, nor moved by anger against those by whom He was afflicted with so many injuries and contumelies, answering nothing, but remaining immobilized like the bronze serpent. Wherefore, if we implore His help, we shall remain integral from the bites of the hidden serpents. In Him lies our strength and our protection. For as, He says, Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believes in Him may not perish, but have life eternal. - That everyone, He says, who believes in Him. It is necessary that to Him w-
we should draw near. For neither did the bronze serpent heal the wounded, unless they had looked upon it. For many unbelievers, having neglected the Word of God, died from the bites of serpents, as the Apostle testifies: And let us not tempt Him, he says, as they tempted Him, and were destroyed by serpents. Do you see, brother, that in this time also there are serpents in their hearts, who wish to tempt the Lord Jesus? Who are they? They are clearly those who seek His commandments while they are unwilling to observe them. There came to Him, he says, one of the lawyers, tempting Him, and saying: Master, which is the great and first commandment in the law? Jesus answered him: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend the whole law and the prophets. You see that those who seek and do not practice, are called tempters, because they are unwilling to believe in the bronze serpent, which has the power to heal them from the pestiferous bite of the hidden serpent.
B XVII. Therefore, strengthen your heart, and do not say: How can I keep His commandments, since I am a sinful man? For whoever has confessed his sins, turning himself to God through repentance, shall be regenerated. As we have borne the image of the earthly, says the Apostle, let us also bear the image of the heavenly. Power, as you see, God gave to man, that by repentance he might be changed, and through it be made entirely new. As long as an infant is in the bosom of its mother, she keeps it from every evil. If it cries, she offers the breast. She inflicts blows lightly, so that with fear it may suck the milk, and not become stubborn. She consoles the weeping one with an embrace and a kiss. She loves and cherishes him as her own heart and bowels, and invites him to suckle the breasts. If gold or silver or a pearl or anything else is shown to an infant, he looks at it indeed, but fleeing into the mother's bosom, he despises all things so that he may receive her milk. The father does not blame him because he does nothing, because he does not betake himself to war, and fight against adversaries. Since he is a little one, he cannot; he has feet indeed, but he is not able to rely upon them. He has hands, but he cannot handle weapons. The mother patiently waits for him to grow little by little. When he has grown a little, if by chance he has wished to wrestle with another, and having been defeated has fallen, the father is not angry, because he is small. But when he has grown into a man, his virtue and zeal appear; he pursues his father's enemies. Then the father commits and entrusts all his possessions to him, because he is his son. But if, after all the labors that his parents have endured in raising him, famine or pestilence or war arises, and he abandons his parents, and is not willing to consult for their old age, but enters into alliance with their enemies, then, forgetful of love, they eject the ungrateful son from the house, and strip him of his inheritance.
XVIII. Let us, therefore, brothers, apply ourselves, that we may remain under the protection of repentance, and suck the milk from its holy breasts, so that it may nourish and cherish us itself. Let us despise all things that are seen, so that its milk may be sweet in our mouth. Let us submit ourselves to its discipline, A that it may care for us. If we happen to fight against our enemies, and they afflict us like little ones, let us weep in its bosom, so that it may exhort our father to avenge us against those who trouble us. Let us cut off every will of our heart, and it will not grieve us to be strangers, provided He saves and defends us like Abraham. Let us submit ourselves to His hands like Jacob, so that we may obtain the blessing from our father. Let us deny our own wills, like Moses, who was preserved under His refuge against those who desired to kill him. Let us not despise it, lest He hate us like Esau. Let us guard His holiness, so that He may exalt us in the land of our enemies. Let us hold it as a fortress, like Jesus the son of Nave, who as a boy did not depart from the tent. Let us not leave a place for sloth in our heart, lest it spoil us of the inheritance of the promised land. In all things let us embrace humility, that, like Caleb, we may enter into the land flowing with milk and honey. Let us desire nothing of perdition, lest we perish, like Achan. Let us love the spur of His conscience, which might arouse us at every hour, so that it may save us in the time of temptation, as it did Rahab. Let us in no kind of food indulge the appetite, lest it destroy us, like the sons of Eli. Let us keep ourselves clean from every iniquity, like Samuel, who was pierced by no sting of conscience that he had done anything evil to his neighbor. Let us take care not to return evil to our neighbor, so that He may keep us from evil, as He did David. From all boasting and vain glory let us refrain, lest He cast us from the face of our Father, like Absalom. Let us cultivate humility and gravity, so that He may have us as avengers against the enemies of our Father, as He did Solomon. In every matter let us study to be subject, restraining our members from all dead works, so that we may obtain a heart robust against our enemies, as Elijah the Tishbite. Let us not be desirous of pleasure, lest it destroy us like Achan. Let us contend with all our strength even unto death, so that we may not lose His holy inheritance, as the Jezreelite Naboth. Let us be obedient to our spiritual fathers, denying our wills in all things, until we are subjected to them, so that to the likeness of Elisha, their blessing may remain with us. Let us not be covetous nor liars, that we may please men, lest He terrify us, like Gehazi. Let us love the pious men more than ourselves in all things, so that He may bless us as He did the Shunammite. Let us pursue unto death with hatred the sin, so that in the day of necessity He may help us as He did Susanna. Let us not desire various kinds of food, like those who took food from the table of Nebuchadnezzar. Let us rejoice in affliction, as did Azarias. Let us not be crafty and cunning, like the Babylonians murmuring against the faithful. Let us fulfill our ministries, like Daniel,
not indulging the laziness of the body, since he preferred to die rather than abandon the sacrifices he performed daily. For God is strong, and He saves those who love Him from temptations. But the ungodly He destroys. The faith of the just in God, however, makes wild beasts like the lambs of the sheep. Blessed is the God of repentance, and blessed is he who is loved by God, who loves repentance, and submits his neck to His will, until he is regenerated from above by the will of God.
XIX. Great, brother, is the need for diligence, judgment, and vigilance in a man, so that he may repudiate all his own will and walk rightly in all his ways, lest he wander and fall into the hands of the enemies of repentance. He who esteems himself just, kills it. He who judges sinners, persecutes it. He who despises the negligent, dissolves it. Concerning this, it is written in Proverbs: *All her ways are straight; she does not eat the bread of idleness; she made double garments for her husband; she has become like the merchant's ship, bringing her riches from afar.* Let us consider it by these words. A merchant who loads a ship does not throw only one kind of merchandise into it, but everything from which he hopes to profit. And if he sees that he has suffered a loss, he does not imitate that, but rather those whom he notices have become rich. He asks the local people, and those whom he judges to be least envious, at what price each thing can be bought or sold. Such is the soul that desires to meet God with joy. It is not satisfied with one thing only, but collects everything from which it hopes for gain; yet it rejects those things which it suspects will bring loss. Therefore, now, my brother, since you have become a merchant of the Lord Jesus, beware of those goods which bring detriment. Such are human glory, pride, arrogance, boasting, irritation toward one's neighbor, slander, avarice, discord. These and things like them cannot please the Lord Jesus. Consider yourself carefully, brother; weigh your senses, so that you may know which of them bears fruit for God or for sin: whether your eyes are captivated by pleasure; whether your tongue is prone to petulance; whether your heart C is captured by the sweetness of human glory; whether your ears listen willingly to flatterers and slanderers. All these things are a detriment to the mind; for it is written in Leviticus: *Say thus to Aaron: You shall not offer at My altar of the clean animals anything that has a blemish, lest you die.* Aaron signifies the mind. And because the enemy mixes his malice with the appearance of justice, He commanded that he should examine it before he offered, lest he die.
XX. This examination is diligent for those who truly love the Lord Jesus and hope in Him. The soul of these has become a spouse adorned with all virtues, which has its mirror. For, as the Apostle says, *We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of God as in a mirror, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord A.* But now we see *through a glass in an enigma, then we shall see Him face to face.* Therefore, souls that become His spouses contemplate themselves in chastity as in a mirror, lest perhaps some stain should reside on their countenance, by which they might displease their Spouse. For He seeks souls that are virgin, chaste, and clean, having no stain. That which is written of Rebecca, that she was a virgin, very beautiful, knowing not a man. And the Prophet: *Virgins shall be brought to Him after her; her companions shall be brought to You.* They shall be brought, having regard for humanity. His companions, because they will be conjoined to Him. For the regeneration of holy baptism renews them from every oldness. And repentance sanctifies them and renders them pure virgins. For they forget all their oldness. *Hear, O daughter, and see and incline your ear, and forget your people and your father's house; and the King shall desire your beauty.* And all the virtues of the heavens shall look up to her, because of the cleanliness with which repentance has adorned her, and has made her one body with Him. And they will say: *Who is this, B who ascends made white among her daughters?*
XXI. Let us therefore strive with all our strength that we may slowly cast off the actions of the old man; let us beware of all things of perdition, until His charity comes to us and takes away from us the image of the earthly, and fixes His holy image in our heart, so that we may be made pure and whole, worthy of Him, free from every stain. And, as we have borne the image of the earthly, as says the Apostle, let us also bear the image of the heavenly. Since the Apostle knows well that there is no one without sin, from the time when the transgression occurred; and that it is repentance which leads man to complete purity; therefore he warns us that we should destroy the action of him who did not obey, and embrace the action of our Lord Jesus Christ, obeying His commands, He who, moved by mercy, took upon Himself the servitude of man, that He might lead him back into the hidden paradise, and might grant him all His holy virtues, and permit him to feed upon the tree of life, which is the knowledge and observance of His words; which plants peace in the mind of the faithful, and guards them assiduously, and keeps their ears away from every speech of the wicked dragon, bringing back to their memory the bitter servitude into which we fell through disobedience, and exhorting us that we should always give thanks to Him, who redeemed us with His precious blood, blotting out on the cross the handwriting of our servitude, and ascribing us to Himself as brothers and friends; who, when He had poured out His Spirit in charity upon His disciples and had refreshed their minds, said, *I ascend to My Father and your Father, my God and your God. I will, Father, that where I am, they also may be with me. Because You have loved them, as You have loved Me.*
A Furthermore, in order to show that He spoke not of all, but of those who cut off their own wills and obey His holy will, and reject from themselves all the dealings of this world: *I have chosen,* He says, *them out of the world, therefore the world hates them, because they are not of it.* Those who have left behind the things that are of the world have become worthy, as you see, to be the spouses of the Lord Jesus, and to remain in His truth. For this reason, the Apostle says, *a man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall be two in one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak in Christ and in the Church.* The same Apostle said that the Gentiles are co-heirs and of the same body and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel. Those who have been made worthy to be one body with Him, the Holy Spirit dwells in them, and He Himself suggests all things to them, and is Himself solicitous for them. *For it is not you,* He says, *that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaks in you.* And the Apostle: *For God hath revealed it to us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For we,* he says, *have the mind of Christ.* How then can we think any sin with the mind of Christ? Contemplate this mystery, brother, in your soul.
XXIII
All kinds of animals that are on the earth, when united with their own kind and not with a diverse species, generate, whether they be beasts of burden, or wild beasts, or serpents, or birds. For this reason, God brought all things to Adam, that he might see if he could find what was like to himself. And he found none among them all, because it was not of his nature. Then God took one of his ribs, and made a wife for him, because He had taken her from his man. This mystery is great in those who become spouses of Christ, because they are of His substance through regeneration, and are of His holy body. For, as the Apostle says: *We being many, are one body in Christ: and every one members one of another;* and again: *For we are members of his body, of his flesh and of his bones.* You see how He wishes man to be in all things as Eve was from Adam, and as He Himself is in all things; for those who are like brute beasts B and void of reason, or who, stealing something from one another, imitate the greed of wild beasts, or the inconstancy of birds, or the venom of serpents, their souls cannot be spouses of Christ, because they are dissimilar in action. You see, brother, how He wishes man to be like Himself, so that his soul may be His spouse. Therefore, the soul recognizes its own understandings from its own actions; for if it acts rightly, the Holy Spirit dwells in it. Good actions render the soul free from disturbances. Furthermore, it is impossible that in such a one the Holy Spirit should not dwell. *If you love me,* says the Lord, *keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete, the Spirit of truth.* And the Apostle: *Know you not,* he says, *that Christ Jesus dwells in you? unless perhaps you are reprobates.* You see how, unless one imitates the Lord’s action, he is a reprobate and cannot be His spouse? And all the virgins prepared their lamps, but those who did not have good works were rejected. The net cast into the sea gathered and brought good fish into the kingdom of heaven. Tares grew together with the wheat, but when the harvest came, they were bound and cast into the fire. The branches that did not bear fruit were cast into the fire. Sheep were pastured together with goats; but the sheep were set on the right hand; but the goats C on the left. The one who sows sowed his seed; but only that which fell into good ground brought forth fruit. He gave his money without simulation, but he rejoiced in it doubled nevertheless. All had been invited to the wedding, but he who did not have a wedding garment was ordered to be cast into the exterior darkness. All profess to believe, but those who do not have good works are cast out: *For many are called, but few are chosen.*XXIV
Let us examine ourselves, brethren, and weigh our works, before we must go to meet Him; lest we be of the number of those who do the will of the flesh. Let us strive that we may attain those riches which we shall find in that hour of necessity. Let us contemn those things which must necessarily be left behind by us here. Let us consider those who with the utmost zeal have labored to accumulate these fleeting riches, how, when they were left behind, they fell into hell, because they neglected to follow the footsteps of the Lord Jesus, so that they might become His worthy spouses. Let us therefore labor with tears before God, and with the inner sorrow and groaning of the heart, lest we fall into their disgrace. For if a storm arises at sea, and many ships are submerged, we do not say: "Because they have perished, let us also perish." Rather, we contend with all our strength, and make vows to God, so that we may escape unharmed. Truly a great storm, brethren, has arisen in this sea of life. Let us exhort ourselves to labor, and cry D to the Lord, lest we be overwhelmed by the waves. Unless we set down the burdens of our sins, and strip ourselves of all anxiety, we cannot escape from this turbulent storm. Moses did not sing a canticle to the Lord before he had crossed the sea and had seen the death of those who wished to keep the people of God in servitude! Then at last he said: *Let us sing to the Lord: for He is gloriously magnified; the horse and the rider He has thrown into the sea.*XXV
If, therefore, the mind of the soul is turned away from the pleasure of the flesh…and the column of contemplation separate the soul from it; then God, perceiving the wickedness of the disturbances which, making an assault upon the soul, attempt to restrain its senses in sins, brings help to the mind as it constantly supplicates, and destroys and wipes out all its enemies. Just as He also said to Moses: Why do you cry to me? command the children of Israel, that they may be prompt and ready. But you, with the rod which is in your hand, strike the sea, and it shall dry up.* God is faithful, who also aids us, as He did Moses, and delivers us from the hands of our enemies, that we may be able to sing a new song to Him, and say: Let us sing to the Lord: for He is gloriously magnified. But how shall we be able to declare these things if we obey our enemies, and of our own will return to Egypt, desiring those things which we once ate, and crying out to Aaron: Make us gods, which may go before and lead us back into Egypt:** for this spiritual food is displeasing to us.* God is powerful to send Moses to us, who may crush the molten calf, through which we provoke Him to wrath. God is powerful, who has granted us the gift of repentance, to convert us again to Himself, and to confirm Moses, that he may pray for us and say: If You forgive them their sin, forgive; but if not, blot me out of the book of the living.** He will also strengthen Joshua in the time when the seven nations are destroyed, so that He may lead us into the land of promise; and Israel shall receive the inheritance, dwelling therein most commodiously for ever and ever. Amen. The might of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself is here, His is the aid, His is the protection, His is the wisdom, His is the guardianship. He Himself is in us to the glory and honor of God the Father, and of the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen. If you understand these things, brother, strive to perform them; and the Lord will protect you in the hour of temptation. Amen.
ORATION XXVI
Words of the blessed Abbot Isaias, which Peter the abbot, his disciple, received from him and commended to the brethren. 1. My Father used to say: It is strong to correct those things which are in need of correction. Purity of mind pours forth prayers pleasing to God. The fear of God and anguish of heart easily obtain the forgiveness of sins. For the man who is desirous of vengeance, sacrifices are vain. Do not seek the counsel or reasoning of this time, nor put your trust in one who seeks it of you. And pay attention to those who speak within you; and pray to God that He may teach you which of them you ought to listen to. Beware lest you have one thing ready on your tongue, and another in your heart. Whoever prostrates himself as a suppliant before God, and who listens to the commandments with humility, attains charity. Charity, however, expels vices and disturbances. He who commits himself to quiet and silence should constantly consider whether he has escaped those adversaries who attack us in the air, and whether he has been delivered from them. For as long as he is subject to their servitude, he is not free. Let him therefore afflict himself, until he obtains mercy from God. He who is accused by his own heart has not yet obtained mercy. If you wish to follow our Lord Jesus Christ, keep His word. If you wish to hang the old man with Him, you must abhor those who call you back from the cross; and you must accustom yourself to bear it with an even mind if you are despised; and those who do you injury, you must love, and show yourself humble toward them, and master your own desires, and guard the silence of your mouth, and judge no one in your heart. Let him who cultivates quiet and silence have the fear of the God who meets him. The fear of God is not in him who obeys sin and is in need of the mercy of God.II. This is a grave matter, that we carry righteousness on our lips, but iniquity and malice in our hearts. Unless one contends even unto death to render his body such as that of the beloved Jesus was, he does not meet Him with joy, nor is he freed from bitter servitude. He used to say: Have mercy, have mercy, for my soul has fallen: in what purity was it created? In what servitude is it held? To what vanity is it bound? I exhort you, while you are in the body, not to set your heart free. For just as a man deems the fruits of his field uncertain until he has stored them in his barns: so too, you are uncertain as to what fruits you will receive from your heart, as long as you have breath in your nostrils. Just as a man cannot know by what vice he is being attacked until his very last breath: so too, he cannot free his heart while he breathes, but must constantly implore the aid and mercy of God. I asked him what humility is, and how it is acquired. He replied: Humility is obedience, and the denial of one's own will. Humility is to afflict oneself, to embrace purity of heart, to bear the insults and injuries of one's neighbor willingly. Blessed, he said, is the man who puts on the new man before he encounters Christ: For flesh and blood, as the Apostle says, cannot possess the kingdom of God.** The same: While you have jealousy, he said, and contention among yourselves, are you not carnal, and walking according to man? Therefore, he said, we are thus afflicted by our enemies, because we are ignorant of our own weaknesses, and do not embrace mourning with consideration. For it would reveal to us our sins, which, if they were clearly known to us, we would consider ourselves worse than harlots. For they sin openly, because they do not know God. But we who profess the knowledge of God, yet still serve sin. He who endures reprimand, and submits his will to his neighbor—lest God allow the enemy to come into the midst—shows himself to be a hireling. For if he genuinely submitted himself at the feet of the Lord Jesus, he would strive to renounce his own will, lest he be separated from his lovely Lord. He who follows his own will does not even have peace with the good, for contempt and anger and con
A disturbance prevail in his heart. He who refuses to care for himself, as to what he may say or hear, is like a blind man who sees no light, whether within or without. He who diligently contemplates his own sins has no tongue with which to speak words about any man.
III. Whatever is of the world, and even bodily repose itself, pursue with hatred, because they call you away from the friendship of God. Just as one who has an enemy fights against him, so must we fight against our body, and grant it no leisure or rest. He who loves God ought to weigh his own thoughts, whether they are from the body or not. For as long as he is detained by the cares of the body, he is not a pure bride of God. When asked by me what that prayer meant, *Hallowed be thy name* [Matt. vi, 9], he said: "It is perfect, because the name of God cannot be hallowed in us while we obey our desires." He used to say according to the teaching of the ancient Fathers: "The departure from the body is a flight, and a meditation on death. Where there is no peace, there is no God." He who discerns his own sins perceives peace. Place does not drive away sins, but humility. David, when he had fallen into the crime of adultery and homicide, found that one sacrifice pleasing to God, and therefore said: *A sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit; a contrite and humbled heart, O God, thou wilt not despise* [Ps. l, 19]. Contempt and indignation disturb the mind and do not permit it to behold the light of God. Avoid these three vices first with all your strength: avarice, ambition, and sloth; for if these occupy the soul, they overthrow it and do not allow it to progress. If, while you are sitting in your cell, the desire to judge a brother seizes you, judge that from your sins, considering your own to be both more numerous and greater than his, and do not think that those works which you deem good in yourself are pleasing to God. For the firmer members of the body are solicitous for the weaker ones, and serve them until they recover, because of the necessity by which they are joined to them. Those who are of a hard heart never think they have sinned. The humble, however, transfer the fault of their neighbor to themselves. The proud man thinks himself wise in his own mind, and that he has never offended anyone. But he in whom is the fear of God is anxious lest some virtue be lacking to him. If you sit in your cell and offer your prayers in silence, and your heart inclines toward something that is not of God, and you consider this not sin but a thought, consider that your prayers also, which you pour out in silence, are not true. But if you believe the sacrifice of your heart is acceptable to God, conclude that an idle thought of the heart joined with malice is reckoned to you as a crime before God.
IV. He who does not find help in time of war cannot hope for peace. He teaches in vain whose works are contrary to his doctrines. Concerning communion he used to say: "Woe is me, woe is me! If I communicate with the enemies of God, what communion can I have with God? Is it not taken by me unto judgment and condemnation? For all things are clean to the clean: but to them that are defiled B and to unbelievers nothing is clean; but their mind and conscience are defiled" [Tit. 1, 15]. "For if I am holy, who are these who work in me?" When I had asked him what the fear of God was, he replied: "The fear of God is not in him who obeys His enemies." Again I asked whom he deemed to be a servant of God. "That servant of God," he said, "is not to be considered such who obeys his own desires. For he whom a person obeys, he is his master." "Woe is me, woe is me," he would say, "who have not studied to render myself pure and holy, that I might be able to obtain mercy! Woe is me, miserable one, who, in order to reign with Christ, did not contend to overcome my enemies! Woe to me, miserable one, who am called by your name, O Lord, and serve your enemies! Woe is me, woe is me, because I feed on those things which my King detests, and therefore He does not heal me!" When I visited him while he was sick and laboring greatly under a malady, and grieved for the discomforts of his health: "Hardly," he said, "vexed in this way by disease, can I remember that bitter time; so far am I from being likely to be mindful of it if the flesh were robust. For when it is healthy, it is more prone to exercise enmities against God. The tree which is irrigated does not wither, but brings forth fruit. Calamities are an aid to us for observing the commandments of God. Woe is me, woe is me, who have accusers before me! How shall I be able to meet my Lord and His saints, when my enemies have not left me even one integral limb?" I asked what was necessary for a solitary man. And replying he said: "Three things are necessary for him: constant fear, assiduous prayer, and the continuous custody of the heart." A man devoted to solitude and quiet ought to beware C of hearing useless words. For these destroy his labors. He said that Abbot Serapio, asked by a certain old man what he seemed to himself to be, replied to me: "I seem like a man existing upon a tower, who signals to those approaching, that they should not come to him." And the old man who had questioned him similarly, said to him: "But I seem to myself like a man who has built a fortress, and fortified it with iron bars, so that if anyone knocks, he does not hear, nor understand who that might be, or whence he comes, or what he wants, nor does he appear to him before he departs." If anyone seeks the Lord from the heart, and attends to himself, and is not bound by the chains of the world, and guards his heart so that he may be able to stand before the tribunal of God without offense; he is heard and loved by Him.
ORATION XXVII.
In the saying: *Attende tibi* [Compare I Pet. iv, 13; Deut. iv, 9].I. Attend to yourself diligently, and with great confidence consider our Lord Jesus Christ, when He was God and had ineffable glory and majesty, how He was made man for us, and proposed Himself as an example to us, that we might follow His footsteps. For taking the form of a servant, He vehemently and in an incredible way humbled Himself [Philipp. ii, 7], and was made poor, and many indignities and D
A contumely He bore; and as it is written: As a sheep He was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer He was dumb, and He opened not His mouth. In His humiliation His judgment was taken away [Isa. LIII, 7, 8], and He suffered a most shameful death for us. Wherefore we too, for His commandment and for our sins, ought to bear with a patient and calm mind if anyone wounds or insults us, whether justly or unjustly. If anyone persecutes us even unto death, let us behave like sheep, not resisting or contradicting, but rather praying for our enemies with silence and humility.
II. Pay close attention to yourself, and consider it a great gain and that the salvation of your soul lies in this, if you patiently bear insults and ignominy and attacks for the Lord's sake. Reflect on this: that you deserve much heavier punishments for your sins. And count it as a favor that you have been found worthy to be chastised for God’s sake, so that in some way at least, through many afflictions and rebukes, you may imitate the foul mockeries and most bitter torments of your Lord. And as often as you remember those who afflict and persecute you, do not complain, but rather pray for them from your heart, as those who are the authors of the greatest goods for you.
III. Pay close attention to yourself, that you may flee from the desire for power and glory and honor and praise as if it were a pestilence, death, and the destruction of the soul, and eternal punishment. And take care not to think yourself to be anything, or as possessing any virtue, or as being better than others, or even equal to them. And cut off entirely every desire of the flesh, however small, and every pleasure. Do not use the familiarity of any man unless necessity urges it, nor touch the body of another, nor eat anything at all, however little, outside of the appointed time, lest little by little you slip from the smallest things to worse ones. B
IV. Pay close attention to yourself, that you may truly and from your heart consider yourself the most abject of all Christians and the greatest of sinners, and that your mind may always be humble and dwell in sorrow and sadness. Always be silent as one unskilled and unworthy, and never speak at all unless it be necessary.
V. Pay close attention to yourself; keep that perpetual fire, the eternal punishments, and those who are there damned and tormented, always before your eyes, and consider yourself one of their number rather than one of the living.
VI. Pay close attention to yourself and consider that our Lord Jesus Christ died for us and rose again, and has redeemed us with His own blood, so that you might no longer live for yourself, but for the Lord who died and rose again for us [II Cor. v, 15]. Think, therefore, that you are always standing before His eyes, and guard your heart.
VII. Pay close attention to yourself, that you may always be ready in mind to obey the will of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ, whether in life, or in death, or in any kind of affliction. And always expect some great and terrible temptations and afflictions and calamities and death, lest they take you unprepared.
VIII. Pay close attention to yourself, that you may not think, saying, or doing anything contrary to God's will, as if He were present everywhere. In all things, however small—whether you wish to say something, or act, or contract some business with someone, or eat, or drink, or go to bed, or undertake anything—first consider whether it agrees with the will of God, and confess its cause to Him, and so undertake the matter, that you may have great confidence before God. C
IX. Pay close attention to yourself, that if anyone offends you in some matter, and grief stirs you up or indignation, you do not speak anything beyond what is becoming, but remain silent until your heart is at rest, and then at last kindly admonish and exhort your brother. But if it is necessary to rebuke a brother, and you see that you are moved by anger and are not in control of yourself, take care not to speak anything at all, lest the disturbance grow; but when you perceive that both you and he are quiet and tranquil, then speak to him in such a way that you appear not to argue, but to admonish your neighbor with all humility.
X. Pay close attention to yourself, not doubting that in every hour some temptation of death, or calamity, or some great danger is impending over you. And bear all things that happen with a brave and strenuous spirit, considering it necessary that through many afflictions and tribulations we enter into the kingdom of heaven [Act. xiv, 21].
XI. Pay close attention to yourself, that you do not serve your own will or comfort in any action or speech or thought, but the will of God, even if it seems like a great task. For thus is the way to the kingdom of heaven. Prefer it, therefore, to all human prudence, and consider it more useful than all other counsels of men, for God’s commandment is eternal life. And those who seek Him shall not lack any good thing [Psal. xxxIII, 11]. D
XII. Pay close attention to yourself, that remaining always in the sight of God, you hope for nothing from anyone else, but for everything from Him alone with faith. If you have need of anything, pray to God to grant it to you if He wills. Whatever you have, do not refer it to others, but to God, and give thanks to Him. If you lack anything, do not expect it from men, nor complain about anyone, but endure all things with a cheerful and tranquil mind, thinking to yourself: "I indeed am worthy of many afflictions on account of my sins; nevertheless God, if He wills, can have mercy on me and provide what is necessary for use." If you are of this mind, God will not suffer you to lack anything that is expedient for you.
XIII. Pay close attention to yourself, that you undertake nothing at all unless you are persuaded that it is justly obtained and provided by God. Such things, you shall perform with peace
but those things which you perceive to have proceeded from iniquity, or from fraud, or from simulation, reject and repudiate them. Better is a little with the fear of God, than great treasures with iniquity.
XIV. Pay diligent attention to yourself, so that with all zeal you may cultivate silence, by which, with God aiding you, you may the more easily strive and grow in virtue. But if a time should arise when it is necessary to speak, or if it is better to speak than to be silent, then opening your mouth with the fear of God and with trembling, and with bowed head, speak your words modestly and with a submissive voice. If you have had an encounter with anyone, speak a few words for the sake of charity, and quickly be silent. If you are asked, answer only as much as the necessity of obedience compels, and no more.
XV. Pay diligent attention to yourself, that just as you restrain yourself from lust, so also you may restrain the desire of your eyes, your ears, and your sense of touch. Direct your eyes only toward the works of your hands, and not toward other things, unless a reasonable necessity requires it. But beware of looking upon women or handsome men, unless a great and urgent necessity forces you. Do not care to hear what is said about others. Unless it is necessary, let your mouth say nothing at all. If you perceive these things to be useful, brother, strive to perform them in deed, so that in the hour of temptation God may protect and defend you. Amen.
ORATIO XXVIII. Concerning the branches of malice.
1. Concerning the branches of malice one must speak, so that a man may understand what vice is, and how he separates himself from God, and may implore His aid against each individual vice, and, by the divine clemency aiding him, may rout and expel them. Vices are the wounds of the soul, which separate it from God. Blessed is he who is whole and pure from vices, because he shall be offered as a grateful sacrifice to God like a rational sheep, and shall hear that pleasant voice of the Lord: *Well done, good and faithful servant, because you have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many; enter into the joy of your Lord.* But those who desire to fulfill the wills of their flesh, and do not heal themselves with the holy medicines of repentance so that they may become pure and holy, will be found naked of the robe of virtues in the hour of necessity, and will be cast into the outer darkness, where the devil is, clothed in the robe of vices, which are fornication, covetousness, avarice, detraction, wrath, emulation, vainglory, and pride. These are the branches of malice, and many others similar to them, such as drunkenness, the adorning of the body, distraction of mind, sloth, scurrility, ridiculous speech, impudence, loud laughter, contempt of conscience, negligence of the divine judgment, envy, lying, flattery, false witness, the profession of false knowledge, arrogance in teaching, desire for gain, despair, hatred of neighbor, when a man does not reproach himself, when he loves the glory of men, when he seeks delicate feasts, when he embraces the desires of the body, when he is inconsiderately scandalized, and when, for the sake of doctrine, he applauds himself, A when he contends and becomes bitter, when he defends his own will, when he deems himself good and wise, and when he thinks his brother is wicked and foolish and despises him.
II. Those branches of malice grow and propagate in the miserable and unhappy soul, until they separate it from God. These are those gravest burdens with which Adam burdened his neck when he ate from the forbidden tree. These are the reasons why it was said: *He himself has borne our infirmities and carried our sorrows.* These are the things which our Lord Jesus Christ killed on the cross. These are those old wineskins into which the new wine is not poured. These are those chains with which Lazarus was bound. These are those demons which Christ sent into the herd of swine. Such is that old man, B whom the Apostle commands us to put off; therefore he said: *Flesh and blood shall not possess the kingdom of God;* and again: *If you live according to the flesh, you shall die.* These are those thorns and thistles which the earth brought forth to Adam, after he was cast out of paradise. But Christ’s yoke is sweet, and his burden is light; namely, C gentleness, chastity, mildness, goodness, joy of the spirit, abstinence from all vices, charity toward all, holy discretion, immovable faith, endurance of affections, separation from the world, the desire to depart from the body and to meet the Lord Jesus Christ. These are those light burdens which the Lord commanded us to carry. This is that way to which, in order to arrive, the saints endured so many labors. These are the things which no one can obtain unless he has put off the old man, and has been liberated, and has possessed charity; which charity indeed liberates man from all cares and anxieties.
III. Nor, indeed, can it happen that charity should dwell in us as long as we love anything of the world. *You cannot,* he says, *be partakers of the table of the Lord and the table of demons;* and Isaiah: *Who shall announce to you, he says, the eternal place? He who walks in justice and speaks the right way; who hates iniquity and injustice, and shakes his hands free from bribes; who closes his ears so as not to hear the judgment of blood; who shuts his eyes so as not to see iniquity: he shall dwell in the lofty cave of the strong rock; bread shall be given to him, and his water shall be faithful.* See with what honors and rewards the Lord is to affect those who struggle strenuously in this short course of life, and through patience and affliction shake off the burden of the world. D You see how God aids the labors of those who cut off their own wills, and expels all those perturbations from them who prefer the divine will to their own desires. But those who indulge their own wills, although they begin in the spirit, yet because they desire to fulfill them, they cannot resist the enemies, and they end in the flesh and lose their labors. Therefore, the prophet Jeremiah detests them: *Cursed,* he says, *is he who does the work of the Lord negligently.* You see
how God A does not help those who dedicate themselves to His service, but yet serve their own will; rather, He abandons them and delivers them into the hands of their enemies. From this it comes about that, in the place of the honor they covet from men, they fall into disgrace and ignominy, because they did not resist their enemies until God should bring them aid to overcome them. Furthermore, as all the Scriptures testify, a man is not heard by God unless he prays and supplicates Him. Wherefore, let us approach His clemency with all diligence and tears as suppliants; let us submit ourselves to all men for the sake of the Lord, and let us submit ourselves to our brothers as to more prudent ones, rendering to no man evil for evil, nor thinking evil of anyone in our heart, but let us all be one heart and one soul.
IV. But as concerns those things which are necessary for the body, let us never say: This is mine. Let us diligently guard our heart, and observe whither it turns, that it may not think anything unclean or impure. Let us restrain the body from satiety, lest it exact its own desires from us, but let it be subject to the soul, and the soul to the mind, so that it may become a pure bride, clean from every stain, and may call to her bridegroom, saying: *Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat the fruit of his apple trees.* Let us apply ourselves to this zeal and care, brothers, so that, endowed with this confidence, we may hear Him saying: *Where I am, I want them to be also, for I have loved them even as You have loved me, Father. And You in me, and I in them.* May the holy Trinity, of the same essence and without beginning, C show us His mercy, that we may find pardon and remission with His saints in the day of judgment. For to Him is the glory and the power, unto the ages of ages. Amen.
ORATION XXIX. Lamentations of the same.
1. Woe to us who are given over to this brief space of life, who, in order to satisfy the iniquitous and short-lived desire of the flesh, render ourselves unworthy of the most delightful spectacle of divine glory. Woe to us, because corruption shall not inherit incorruption; and we, despising incorruption, rage and are maddened by the desire for corruption. Woe to us who cherish and nourish in sins our flesh—which is destined to be resolved into rot and to be food for worms—and fear neither the fire in which we are to be perpetually tormented, nor the worm that never sleeps. Woe to us whose body, defiled by impurities, pious men honor and kiss, whereas we are but *whitened sepulchers*, and smell of death-dealing sin. Woe to us who, through intemperance and the delicacies of feasts, increase the seed within us, and therefore are incited to illicit unions of bodies. Woe to us who do not compare mortality with immortality, nor do we heed the divine and formidable righteousness, but act negligently. Woe to us who are lazy and slow for good things, but prompt and eager for evils. Woe to us who have consigned our body, capable of eternal light, to everlasting darkness. Woe to us, because the Son of Man—who is of the same essence with God and the Father, and who became man for our sake—has nowhere to lay His head among us, while foxes, that is, the cunning and wicked spirits, have built their dens within us. Woe to us, because the upright in heart shall present their pure souls and holy bodies without stain before the Judge; but we, having impure souls and unclean bodies, shall hear the sentence of eternal punishment.
II. Woe to us who, being studious of all decencies and shameful acts, demand the honor and glory of the saints. Woe to us who, although we are condemned and liable to many sins, move among the saints and the innocent as though we were free and guiltless. Woe to us who, being full of errors, advise and instruct those who are far better and more excellent than us. Woe to us who, having a beam in our own eye, B acutely discern the smallest motes of our brothers and angrily desire to cast them out, as if there were nothing in us that stood in need of rebuke. Woe to us, because we impose heavy and intolerable burdens upon our brothers, while we ourselves, being weaker in body, do not wish to touch them even with a finger. Woe to us who, while we refuse divine and monastic ministries, are not ashamed to teach others the duties of virtue that should be practiced. Woe to us who not only forget our past sins, but neglect to drive away and wash away with tears our recent ones. Woe to us who, having laid the foundations of right living with God's aid and grace, now build upon them things that are of the flesh. Woe to us who are so delighted by evil thoughts that we repeat in our memory the sins we have despised. Woe to us who, in eating and drinking, do not foresee that a war will arise for us from drunkenness. Woe to us whom the devil, while suggesting thoughts of lust, catches unprepared and consenting. Woe to us who, neglecting the study of divine prayer and holy reading, waste our days in trifles and useless things. Woe to us whose hearts are so blind that, while we ought to be set upon lamenting our sins, we grow torpid in inertia and idleness. Woe to us who, although God says, D *The soul that sins, it shall die*, take no heed of Him as we continuously sin.
III. Woe to us who urge our body, prone to sins, toward impure desires and unclean thoughts by the abundance of food and delicacies, and, through our eyes, we admit the arrows of the wicked enemy into our hearts. And by the touch of bodies we become like raging horses, nor do we have any thought of our dignity or of the eternal punishment. Woe to us who so easily feel the diseases and pains of the body; yet, for the illnesses and most grievous wounds of the soul, we lack all
sense. Woe to us, because the ruling part of the soul serves the flesh, which is the handmaid, and the inferior part commands the superior, even though both ought to be in harmony and unanimity, serving God, their Creator. Woe to us, in whom sins revel with evil and impure thoughts, and do not allow us to discern between the departure of God and the approach of unclean spirits. Woe to us, who are so foolish and imprudent that, while we strive for the praises of the saints, we are nevertheless unwilling to imitate their works and actions. Woe to us, who show neither the fear of slaves, nor the zeal of hired servants, nor the love of sons in seeking out divine commands. Woe to us, who, in order to court human favor, refuse to say or do nothing, but neglect justice and equity. Woe to us, whom eternal disgrace moves not at all, and the respect of men impels even to sin. Woe to us, who, though born of poor and obscure parents, are ignorant of ourselves; and though we profess a pursuit of poverty and ignominy, we strive to be numbered among the wealthy and famous. Woe to us, who now, forced by poverty, embrace temperance in the world, yet now, when called to abstinence, pursue the fullness of the belly and the rest of the flesh with the utmost zeal. Woe to us, who, while angels join themselves to those who fear God, and demons approach those who despise God and neglect His commands, list ourselves in the society of demons. Woe to us, who strive to please the wealthy and powerful, but turn away from the poor and supplicants as if from a troublesome crowd.
IV. Woe to us, who hang not upon virtue, but upon public opinion for our standing as men. Woe to us, who discuss and judge and teach what is just and good, but are as far removed as possible from just and good works. Woe to us, who diligently clear the land of burrs and thistles and thorns and other pests of crops, but despise cleansing our soul through the fear of God from the perverse and impure thoughts that shake off and destroy the holy fruits of the virtues. Woe to us, who are tormented for so long with such solicitude that we might obtain some perishable thing from the earth, in which we are guests and pilgrims; yet we deign to take no care at all for that time in which we must necessarily depart from here forever. Woe to us, who, though we are to render an account for every action, for every idle word, and finally for all wicked and impure thoughts before a most severe judge, nevertheless spend the whole time of our life without any concern for this matter, as if we were to be free and subject to no rendering of accounts. Woe to us, because we have not only committed many impious and nefarious acts, but have even spurned and despised the promises of God through unbelief. Woe to us, who, caught in a foolish pursuit of corruption, when we could have attained incorruption through the Gospel of life, go mad with a love of earthly things and have despoiled ourselves of eternal goods. Woe to us, who fear to sin in the sight of men; yet, before the eyes of God, who sees what is hidden, we do not tremble while acting impiously and sinning. Woe to us, who do not flavor our speech with divine salt, but rashly pour out words that are useless and alien to all religion. Woe to us, whose spiritual compunction is plundered by demons on account of our sleep and sloth. Woe to us, who, though we have left the world, surpass those who live in the world in sins and vices. Woe to us, who, though we ourselves are in need of great rebukes, most harshly castigate those who are oppressed by minor vices.
V. Woe to us, if God should bring us into judgment before we amend. Woe to us, who, not considering the foulness of our belly, are overcome by lust and pride. Woe to us, who, while we assiduously pollute our bodies with foul thoughts, yet wish to be held and called saints. Woe to us, who, leaning upon vanities, forget to fight against vices. Woe to us, who bind ourselves to sins here without fear, for there the eternal fire will receive us, and the outer darkness, and the worm that does not sleep, and the weeping and gnashing of teeth, and eternal disgrace before the angels and all creatures. Woe to us, whose souls, confused and alien to repentance, having taken up their bodies in the resurrection and that dreadful judgment of all nations, will be cast with weeping and gnashing of teeth into groaning and mourning and most bitter and eternal torments. Woe to us, who in this exile of pilgrimage pursue loathsome delights, and, forgetful of the paradise of delights, despise the kingdom of heaven. Woe to us, who on account of our cruelty are like the foolish virgins, and do not buy the oil with which our lamps might be illuminated by conferring benefits upon our neighbor. Woe to us, who during the days and nights perform prayers to Christ, saying: Lord, Lord (Matt. VII, 21); yet we do not observe what He commands us. Woe to me, who write down these lamentations, yet show no sign of true repentance. Woe to those who labor for others and do not profit themselves. Woe to us, who, although we feel the constant goads of an accusing conscience, do not blush, nor do we prepare to render an account of all our actions. Woe to us, who, though we reek with shameful deeds, yet rejoice in the praises of men.
VI. Woe to us, who, occupied with empty things, forget the fear of God. Woe to us, whose mind is dulled and blunted by the pursuit of vanity. Woe to us, who, though the patience of God tolerates and expects us, yet do not come to our senses, nor do we amend our perverse actions. Woe to us, who do not remember our sins in the present, because a little later, when the soul will have been stripped from the body, everything that we committed, whether by thought or by words or by deeds, will be great—
pain we shall read what is written in our memory. Woe to us, who, although the Apostle says: *He that eateth the bread and drinketh the cup of the Lord unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord*, being polluted by our own filth, approach the awesome and terrifying mysteries of God, granting ourselves pardon for those things which we have committed by thinking of them in our nocturnal imaginations. For he who has neither pure thought, nor chaste eyes, nor an incorrupt body, nor a clean soul, and yet sits before God, makes himself liable to many pains of both flesh and spirit, and soon will fall into eternal torments and immense disgrace. Woe is me, who write these things with bitter tears, and yet in fact do not embrace repentance. Woe is me, who say true things, but do not do good things. Woe is me, who teach good things, but commit evil things. Woe to them who, enticed by the sweetness of pleasure, sin, because in the end they will be afflicted with pain and everlasting ignominy. Woe to them who mourn, but do not cease to sin, because they deprive themselves of useful mourning.
VII. Woe to men who treat their neighbor with insult and ignominy, because they are strangers to the blessedness of charity. Woe to the envious, because they are far from the kindness of God. Woe to those who study to please men, because they cannot please God. Woe to those who look to the persons of men, because they have fallen from the truth of God. Woe to the proud, because they are on the side of the devil, the deserter. Woe to those who do not fear God, because they will be entangled in many sins, and will be beaten in this life and the next. Woe to us, who cannot bear the bites and stings of fleas, and nits, and lice, and flies, and gnats, and bees; yet we do not endeavor to flee, nor do we implore any help against the huge dragon who opens his horrible jaws to devour and absorb us, and wounds us with all the pestiferous stings of death. Woe to us, whom the devil deceives with pleasures, and pains, and necessities, and all that is in the world; and yet we do not wish to be freed from so many evils. Woe to us, who, although many have already departed from the Church for so many years and endeavor to undermine the orthodox faith, yet do not shed tears, nor show any pain of soul, nor amend our morals and life, so that, heaping sins upon sins and unbelief upon evil works, we prepare for ourselves most bitter and everlasting punishments in hell. Woe to us who, after these lamentations have been written, and with the end of the world now approaching, neither do we return to our senses, nor do we do penance for those things which were committed by us in our youth, but to our miserable old age we daily impose greater and heavier burdens of sins. Woe to us, who, while we are ashamed of the various diseases of the body, are not ashamed that our miserable souls are sick with vices of the body and most filthy sins. Woe to us, A to whom it is permitted, through fire above the waves of the boiling sea, that each one of us may receive in his own body, according to what he has done, whether good or evil. Woe to us, who do not consider that dark and immaterial fire, and the eternal and bitter weeping and gnashing of teeth. For with the splendor of the flame removed, God leaves in that fire the power of burning and the darkness, so that the wicked and sinners may be the more tormented.
VIII. Woe is me, my miserable soul, because constant pain and torment afflict my heart, because malice has changed prudence, corruption has conquered incorruption, lying has covered the truth, death has been the superior life; earthly, falling, brief things have been exchanged for heavenly, perpetual, and everlasting ones; rejected and hateful things have been held dearer and more pleasant than the true charity and gravity of Christ! Error has driven truth from my mind. I have embraced disgrace and ignominy in place of true praises and glory. I have tasted bitterness in place of sweetness; I have loved the soot of the earth in place of the kingdom of heaven. The enemy, abhorring all true beauty, has shed darkness upon my heart, and has extinguished the light of cognition in my mind. Woe is me, miserable and unhappy, whom the devil, having entangled in his nets, has seized and tripped up, and cast down from such a height. I have fallen, broken in my course. My sweats have been in vain. Who would not lament my lot? Who would not lament me, consumed by empty labors? Who would not follow me with mercy, as I make shipwreck in the harbor? Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, at least you, my friends: and suppliantly beseech my Lord Jesus Christ, B who is kind and is conquered by no evils, if perhaps, moved by mercy, He may shake the most dense darkness of the devil, who abhors all beauty, from my mind, so that I, who lie in the mud and do not care to rise, may at length look up, lest the contracted time of my life steal away all my hope. There is no pain above my pain. There is no wound like my wound. There is no torment equal to the torment of my heart: *For my iniquities have gone over my head*. My wounds are not the wounds of a sword, nor are my dead the dead in war: but the sharp arrows of the enemy have been fixed in me, and have blinded my inner man. *And I am planted in the slime of the deep, and there is no substance*. *The fear that I feared, has come upon me*; C *and the shadow of death has covered me*. Woe is me! Consider, my soul, and see what things are present, how fleeting they are, and with how much bitterness and pain they quickly pass away, and how much more bitter are those things which are now arriving and are present. Think, soul, from what goods you are falling away, and from what hope, and to what torments and punishments you will soon be subjected forever. Therefore, before the light is extinguished above your head, approach as a suppliant to the mercy of God, and beseech and entreat the Giver of eternal light, that
liberate you from the devouring flame and the deepest darkness. For it is of His own kindness to forgive the sins of men, and it is in our power, by His mercy, to grant pardon to those who are unworthy. To whom be glory and empire unto ages of ages. Amen.
OF THE SAME BLESSED ABBA ISAIAH PRECEPTS OR LXVIII COUNSELS COMPOSED FOR NOVICES IN MONASTIC LIFE. See Patrologia Latina, vol. CIII, col. 427.
OF ABBA ISAIAH CHAPTERS ON RELIGIOUS EXERCISE AND QUIET.
AI. There are three virtues that provide for the mind at all times: natural impulse, fortitude, and unwearied diligence.
II. There are three virtues which, if the mind sees them present with itself, it trusts that it has attained to immortality: B discretion, which subtly distinguishes the diverse species of vices from one another; provision, which is occupied with foreknowing all things in time; and firmness of spirit, which never allows itself to be persuaded by that which an alien thought suggests.
III. There are three virtues which ever supply light to the mind to which they are present: to be ignorant of the malice of any man; to bear what comes upon one without disturbance; and to do good to those who do evil. These three, moreover, bring forth three others greater than themselves: not knowing the malice of a man begets charity; to bear what comes upon one without disturbance brings forth meekness; finally, to do good to those who do evil brings forth peace.
IV. There are four virtues which purify the soul: silence, the keeping of the commandments, living in narrow straits, and thinking humbly of oneself.
V. The same Isaiah said: "I see myself as a wandering horse having no master, and he who finds it sits upon it; and after he has released it, another, having seized it in like manner, mounts upon it."
VI. Guard yourself A so that you may not be taken captive in those things in which you previously sinned, lest your old sins be renewed in you. Love humility, and it will protect you from your sins. Give your heart to the obedience of your fathers, and the grace of God will dwell in you. Do not be wise in your own estimation, lest you fall into the hands of your enemies. Accustom your tongue to speak words that signify agreement, and humility will come upon you. Residing in your cell, always take care of these three things: manual labor, meditation, and prayer. Reckon daily: "We have this day to work in this world, but whether I shall have tomorrow, I do not know." Doing this, you will not sin against God.
VII. Do not indulge your gluttony in eating, so that your former sins may not be renewed in you. Do not grow weary of any labor, so that the impulses of the enemy may not rush upon you. Use force upon yourself to act strenuously in your meditation, and the rest of God will come to you quickly. Compel yourself to many prayers with weeping, and perhaps God will have mercy on you and strip you of the old man who sins.
VIII. Labor, and poverty, and pilgrimage, and the endurance of hardships, and silence, beget humility; and humility remits every sin.
IX. If fornication B attacks you, afflict yourself unceasingly in vigils, in hunger and thirst, and in humility toward all. But if the beauty of a body and the imagination of pleasure in a woman draw your heart, remember the stench of these things, and you will find rest.
X. Do not wish, brother, as long as you are in this life, to give rest to your body; C nor trust in yourself if you see that you are at rest from the tumult of wicked affections; for demons hold back their force cunningly for a time, and when a man, becoming negligently secure, has relaxed the pursuit of his salvation, they suddenly leap upon the wretched soul and snatch it away like a sparrow. And if it happens according to their wish that they overcome it, they cast it down mercilessly into every sin. Let us stand, therefore, in the fear of God and guard ourselves, fulfilling perfectly all the works of our religious discipline, and exercising all the virtues suitable for driving away the wickedness of our enemies; for the labors and struggles of this short time not only preserve us from faults, but also prepare crowns D for the soul before it departs from the body. As many of us as have the seal of holy baptism, let us strive to put away our sins, that we may find mercy on the day of judgment. Let us contend, dearly beloved, since the time is near. Blessed, therefore, is he who keeps this concern ever in his mind, by day as well as by night.
XI. One must ward off the approach of an evil demon from the heart through pious contradiction at the time of prayer, lest we be found speaking to God with our lips, while in our heart we are thinking of absurdities.
For God does not accept from a person living in holy quiet a muddy and contemptuous prayer. For everywhere Scripture testifies that we must guard the senses of the soul; for if the will of the monk is made subject to the law of God, and according to His law he governs what is subject to him—I speak of all the movements of the soul, and especially of anger and desire (for these are subject to reason)—then he has achieved virtue and wrought righteousness; turning desire toward God and the longing for His will, and inciting anger A against the devil and sin. What then is required thereafter? Occult meditation.
XII. When, standing against a crowd of enemies, you see them weakened by you and fleeing backward, do not let your heart rejoice, because the malice of those spirits is behind them. For they prepare a war more severe than the first, placing troops in ambush outside the city and ordering them to remain there unmoved, so that as you continue your assault and they flee at your approach, they may, by the fervor of your confidence in your initial success, lure you in pursuit outside the city and beyond the hidden ambuscades; and when you have arrived there incautiously, B the ambushing cohorts will rise up against you from the rear, and those who were just now fleeing will suddenly turn their front, and the unhappy soul, surrounded in the midst and struck from every side, will have nowhere to take refuge.
XIII. Our Master, Jesus Christ, knowing the great mercilessness of our enemies and pitying the human race, commanded with bitterness of heart, saying: "Be ready at every hour, for you do not know at what hour the thief comes, lest he come and find you sleeping"; and again He says: "Take heed lest your hearts be weighed down with C carousing and drunkenness and worldly cares, and that hour fall upon you suddenly." Stand, therefore, upon your heart, guarding your senses; and if the remembrance of God has peace with you, you will catch the thieves who are plundering it. For he who keeps exact watch over his thoughts recognizes those that are attempting to enter and defile him; for they trouble the mind so that, either being intent on something else or bound by sloth, it does not perceive the fraud. But those who know their craft remain imperturbable, beseeching the Lord.
XIV. If your heart wanders and you do not know how to hold it fast, your labor is one of someone D willing and yet unwilling, drawing it into wandering. For unless Gideon had broken the jars, he would not have seen the light of the lamps; so, unless a man contemn the body, he will not see the light of the Godhead.
XV. As in a city surrounded by walls, if some part of the wall has suffered a breach, enemies who are attacking it watch that breach so that they may enter through it (for although the guards may be by the gates, they cannot resist the enemies unless that which is destroyed is repaired); so it is impossible for the monk who is mastered by any vice...
[as] he tries, no matter how much he may strive, he will never be able to reach the goal of perfection.
A XVI. Search yourself, brother, looking deep within and observing your heart daily, to see what vices are in it in the sight of God; and cast out whatever that may be, so that no occasion for evil may come upon you from it. Attend therefore to your heart, and keep a watchful eye on your enemies. For they are astute and cunning in their malice. And be fully convinced in your heart of this word which I am about to speak: it is impossible for those who do evil to do good. For this reason our Savior taught us to be vigilant, saying: “Strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life; and few there are who find it” (Matt. VII, 14).
XVII. Attend therefore to yourself, so that no ruin may draw you away from the love of God; and hold fast your heart, and do not be slothful, saying: “How can I keep my heart, being a sinful man?” For when a man abandons his sins and turns to God, his repentance regenerates him and transforms him entirely into a new creature. B
XVIII. A monk ought to persist constantly in the struggle of religious exercise, and attend to the observed assaults of the adversary, and, like a navigator, pass through the waves, guided by the helm of divine grace, never turning aside from the straight path. He should attend to himself alone, and in peace of mind speak with God, with an unfaltering intention and a mind disengaged from all other things.
C XIX. I exhort you, as long as you are in the body, not to relax your heart from the concern for your salvation; for just as a farmer cannot have certain confidence in the successful outcome of the fruit which he sees already sprung up in his field—for he does not know what may happen to it before the harvest, and he is only then secure when he has stored the grain, already cleaned, in his barns—so a man must not loosen the care of his heart, “as long as the spirit is in his nostrils” (Job XXVII, 3). And just as any man, before his final breath, cannot hold himself so that he might not at some time fall into some vice, so it is not right for a monk, before his last breath, to be entirely secure in his perseverance and his salvation. But he ought always to cry out to God, imploring His help and mercy.
FRAGMENTA OF THE SAME ABBOT ISAIAS
I. From St. John Damascene, *Sacra Parallela*, Opp. tom. II, p. 677.Since the same misfortunes happen to sinners and the just alike, one must not think that all who are in
we assume those who are subjected to them, and in consequence of A wickedness having taken hold, have endured grievous things.
II. Ibid. pag. 721.
They who do all things solely for their own sake practice self-love, the greatest of evils; which produces that which is unsociable, uncommunicative, unfriendly, unjust, and impious. For nature did not create man like solitary beasts, but like gregarious ones, living in herds and sociable; so that he should not live for himself alone, but also for father and mother, and brothers, and wife, and children, and other kinsmen, and friends, and fellow-citizens, and companions, and country, and fellow-tribesmen, and all men; and furthermore also for the parts of the universe, and the whole world, and much more so for God and his Creator. For he ought to be, if indeed he is altogether a rational being, sociable, a lover of the world, and a lover of God, so that he may also become dear to God. B
ANNO DOMINI CCCXCIX EVAGRIUS PONTICUS SCITENSIS MONACHUS.
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY NOTICE
(GALLAND., Bibliotheca Veterum Patrum, tom. VII, Proleg., p. xx.)I. Evagrius was born about the middle of the fourth century, called "the Pontic," and devoted himself to men eminent for holiness and doctrine, using primarily Gregory of Nazianzus as his teacher, as Sozomen writes (f). But afterwards he was ordained reader by the great Basil, then deacon by his own brother, Gregory of Nyssen, and he is later said to have served the office of archdeacon in the Church of Constantinople under Nectarius (g). Concerning that diaconate of Evagrius, the account of Socrates (h) and Sozomen varies; but in the opinion of Valesius (i), the authority of Palladius is to be preferred, as he knew the deeds of Evagrius much more accurately than Socrates and Sozomen. Tillemont is of almost the same opinion (j).
Evagrius attained his birth at Ibora, a city situated at the Euxine Pontus, mentioned by Gregory of Nyssen, a friend of this same Evagrius, in these words (a): "There is a village pertaining to me. Not far off is a small city, which they call Ibora." Thus must it be translated, which others perhaps less correctly render "Ibora." For the word *Ibora* must be taken in the plural number, as the learned Le Quien rightly observes (b). And such a reading seems to be restored by Palladius (c) and Sozomen (d), speaking of our author, where we erroneously read *Ibōrōn* instead of *Ibora* today: a fact which, after others, the learned Wesseling recently pointed out (e). Therefore, Evagrius C was a citizen of Ibora.
Meanwhile, Evagrius, staying at Constantinople and having gained a name for himself, fell into a grave crisis of life, which Palladius (k) and Sozomen describe more fully. D