Discourse 36

On the Change of the Phases of the Spiritual Combat of Satan: Toward Those Who Are on the Narrow Path Above the World. He also has other habits toward the adversary Satan: For those who do not enter, he now spreads out and distinguishes for them the phases of his opposition, from the beginning of their steps. And according to the vision of the persons, he changes the phase of his entry. Toward those whose will he sees is weak and whose thoughts are feeble, from the very beginning he harshly engages with them, while stirring up against them strong and terrible trials, so that he may cause them to stumble from the beginning of the path, as if he were placing a stumbling block from the first entry. So that when the first entry appears difficult to them, this path is seen as hard to tread. For if its beginning is thus difficult and broad, until its end they will endure and encounter all the phases that are arranged in its midst. And they will no longer dare to trust before him, nor toward anything else to turn from the hardness of the discipline of these things that are his. And when a little pressure from his hardness comes upon them, they give themselves to flight. But the Lord, God, leaves him to prevail over them, while not helping them in anything, because they enter coldly and as if in dispute into the phase of the Lord.

cursed is he who, whenever he performs the work of the Lord in a terrifying manner, and his hand ceases from blood. And again: his help is near to those who fear him. And without hesitation and with trembling, he encounters the adversary and commands. He begins to bring about his destruction and engages in battle with him. And he will begin to say: your fear and your terror upon the faces of all the peoples under heaven. But you shall die a death that is perceived willingly for the sake of the love of God; without your will, you shall die a death that is known from God. For that which is from your hand, do not be occupied with receiving willingly in the pain that is full of sacrifice, and with entering into the praise of God. Then, by the sign of the Lord, you shall die bodily; the Lord will crown you. And to your dry bones, the honor of martyrs will be distributed. By the sign, as I said above, of those who from the beginning did not waver, but were strong and gave themselves to death, from then on in all generations, they are seen as lowly. But what of those who, even when God terrifies them to pursue it, in that they, as in a hunt and as in a chase, strive to complete the work of the Lord? For even Satan learned from them from the beginning, and the thoughts of those who were from them remained.

Now then: the fearful and the lovers of their own souls, their mercy fills the body, and like a whirlwind it pursues them. For even a power that is somewhat perceptible, which sees in the accustomed manner towards the righteous, does not see towards these. For according to the will of a man who is towards God, who loves the labors for his sake, in this way God brings near his help and shows upon him his power of nullification. For Satan is not able to approach a man, or to bring near to him sin, unless there is with him negligence from that heavenly sign. Or when he is healed in his will and gives himself to drunken thoughts of the mouth, or when he is exalted, or when he is divided. For concerning those who are like these, Satan does not ask as he does over perfect and great men, as he did over Job. He knows that he will not even be delivered into his hand. For God knows that they are not sufficient, unless they are delivered into his hand. For God knows that they are not sufficient, unless by one of these causes which I have mentioned, that the power of God's nullification is removed from them. This is one hour of his time of the opposite side. For those, however, who see that their will is strong, and death is considered as nothing in their eyes, and with sharp zeal they go forth when they deliver themselves to every sin and to death, and they trample upon life and the world and the body and its sins.

He does not immediately strike him down, but shows himself to him as if in a dream. Rather, he leaps upon himself, and gives him place, and does not assail him with that first blow, nor does he array a contest with him. For he knows that the beginning of a contest is hot, and many are the athletes who go astray, and not like those who come purified from the contests of the erring ones. For he does not do this when he is about to strike them, but from that divine power which inflames them through the fullness of their error, until they, from the will of their own soul, cast it down little by little, as they are being consumed. But he lets them go for a full hour, until their error subsides, and the answer of the weapon which they had prepared becomes confused, and by it they arm their thoughts, with changes of divine words and helpful and strengthening reminders, when he looks to the hour of tranquility. And from the fact that the first thoughts have cooled a little, how many times they are able to find from themselves the discoveries of answer, through struggles that spring from contemplation. And they dig for themselves a pit from themselves, through the clarity of thoughts that are born from humility in their mind, in which coldness has reigned over them. It is not from his own will that he accomplishes this stratagem, when he is amazed at the hour of silence.

He does not, when he sees them, immediately strike them down, nor does he, when he comes forth, as if nothing were considered in his eyes. Rather, he is roused, so that a certain power is prepared for those who, in the contest with God, have become weary, and who have gone forth rashly without thought. When they trust in faith, not knowing that against them there is a contest. He then conceals from them the evil of their own nature, so that it does not approach them. He hides their nature from that watcher who sees them steadfastly. Then the causes of help are not removed from them: these are supplication, labors, and humility, which never depart from them as helpers. The love of the virtues, however, is the cause of being left behind. Then, in this, they are violently constrained, and help is never withdrawn from them. And the adversary does not permit himself to approach them. And if he who is left behind at times, as if for practice, when that holy power has seized and strengthened them, they do not fear him because of the snares. He then takes away the thought and heals him through it. And he instructs him, like a man who teaches swimming to a small child. And when he begins to swim well, he lifts him up. Then the child rises up from the hands of his teacher.

And when the little one begins to fear for himself, that child who is stained with blood, the one who has gone astray in his hands, cries out to him: "Do not be afraid, but you have gone astray, I say to you." And again, like a mother who teaches her little son to walk, she stands at a distance from him and calls to him. When that child begins to come towards his mother, his feet make small and unsteady steps, because their joints tremble. And when the child is about to fall, his mother runs and catches him on her arms. Thus does the grace of God pursue and guide us, the sinners, to those who simply and plainly deliver themselves into the hands of that one who leads them, with their whole heart leaving this world and going after him. But you, O human being who has gone out after God, at every time of your contest, you are reminded of the beginning, and of that first step of the way, and of that warm thought in which you went out from your first dwelling and introduced yourself into the order of battle. And you weep over yourself every day, lest perhaps the heat of your self be extinguished from that step by which you were inflamed. Lest you lack something from the equipment which you held at the head of your contest. And you raise your voice continually in the midst of the camp, and you encourage the warriors with new thoughts.

And show the way to the side of the adversary: "You are awake." And from the beginning you will see a stone when the one who is stained swings it: do not be negligent. Lest this helper of yours should not at all leave your deliverer to become something against you, but rather he will delay and expose him as he would for your help. And do not show slackness from the beginning: lest when you show slackness here, you will no longer be able to stand before the rest that follow: hunger, disease, terrors of visions, along with the rest. Do not turn the mind of the one who sets your contest towards the side of the adversary, lest your enemy find you according to his intention. But call upon God who is never at rest, and weep before his goodness, and entreat and be diligent until he sends you a helper. Then at one time you will see that deliverer who is with you. These are the two children of the contest up to this point. Another mind of the contest of the adversary against the zealous ones. When, therefore, after all these, the adversary stands with a man in the arena and his strength cannot be overcome in the contest, then the helper who helps him, for whose sake he is inflamed against him, and behold, he entirely helps and strengthens him, so that the one who is of thick flesh and body, and beloved, from his side, the incorporeal spirit.

When the Adversary sees all this help that a human receives from God—that his external senses are not affected by visions and sounds that condemn, and his thoughts are not affected by tumults and disturbances that are easily shaken—then indeed he also strikes the signs of the path with a sound, and now desires that there be a pause, and seeks to rescue from him that angel who is his helper. But the one who fills desires to blind the eye of the one who is being helped, and to leave him without knowledge. He stirs up in him thoughts of despair, that the power of the one who strengthens is weak, and that his own reasoning is the cause of all this distress, and the glorious wealth that stands in his soul. But his vigilance against all these opponents, which are open and inexpressible, thirsts for blood; it rushes upon the corpses, and then cuts short the strength of these. He ceases, and from the remaining ones, by the force of the blow of the trembling, falls upon the soul itself from their memory alone. There is, however, a time when even in the canons of revelations from God, he brings weariness to the middle, and by means of the sixth hour he examines it concerning the desires. And again by wakefulness he resembles an angel of light. And all these, until if possible, even a little is surrendered to them, as it fell into their hands.

If then the Adversary seizes his thoughts, the wise man is vigilant; for God is his help, and the gaze of his heart is fixed on heaven, so that he does not look upon those things that disturb. He is able to overcome the Enemy again. Another turn of the battle. This one is continuous for him henceforth, as is its nature, and it brings life to the victor. And it is said that because of this, it especially weakens the constitution of a human. What is this? It is that he is distracted by all the causes that the passions work in him. At certain times, because of their causes, he has blame upon himself on account of nature. For that which is to be conquered becomes filled, from vision and from the proximity of the passions. And he easily sins in anger, when he is within their time. But when his eyes are ordered, knowledge stands firm against this art, from the experience of being with many strong angers that have been humbled by it. And because of this, this one is difficult to overcome. And if it is not possible to accomplish it effectively, because of the certainty of his stillness and the place of his dwelling, which is far from causes, even in disturbances, it is arranged to be brought before him for meditation. And unreal images, in the form of truth, he shows to him.

as he looks upon them, and he is humbled. And he takes upon his mind foul thoughts concerning them, and he is condemned; and he drives away from himself that which would help him. For he knows that his victory and his condemnation, his treasure and his help, and all that is his alone, stand in thought. And it is a small sign, as if by a single thought from its place it is moved, and from that string of life it descends to the earth, and the will is shown in the sign of the moment. As with many of the saints, who saw the forms of a beautiful woman. Those who were near in their dwelling to the one sitting, the way of Passover and the two and up to the feast of Pentecost, did not truly have the form of a woman appear to them. And those who, because of the distance of their dwelling, could not see the forms of a woman's beauty, when they were tempted by the image and by fleeting sights and a fleeting glance, and also by the arrangement of a naked woman, it was shown to them. And from them, the sick were conquered by these and their like. When from them, in that very act, and from them, by means of shadows, they were mocked by the laxity of their thoughts, and they fell into the depth of despair, and they turned to the world, and from heavenly hope they cast themselves down.

runners, then, those who were pressed and awakened by grace, for him and for his thoughts victory. And they trample upon the passions of the body; and they are found chosen in the love of God. And many gifts, and even shadows of gold and of precious stones, and like hidden treasures in a place, are set before them. And there is a time when even to these he shows the truth. As with one of these changes, it is possible that he may not reach the end from them, and he turns back and remains from his course, when he is hindered by these snares of the huntresses. Do not bring, my Lord, these trials. For even the mighty and the chosen go out to lack through this door when they are victorious. And all these are permitted by the ascetic to offer to the saints through reasons, as the love of God in him is kindled by them. For if on account of distance and remoteness, and the non-availability of desires, they are lovers of God and persevere in his love, or in truth they show God to him, and even when these are present and available, they do work and strive for his sake, and they are not defiled, and they change his love for their gifts. It is not that God is known through these, but to the slanderer of much habit: for if he were able, he would teach these.

As also concerning Job it was said: Even he sought from God, vainly did not Job ask of God? Then there is a little tranquility, and he draws near to the physician authoritatively, by the measure of the purity of his righteousness. Then iniquity is destroyed, like the will of Babel. And from these it is established that they are true in his love, that they are at peace in all things, and as if nothing is reckoned in their eyes in the taste of the love of God when they are humble. And to him, the Creator of all and the cause of their victory, they give victory. And in his hands they turn the crown. For you are the mighty one, and yours is the crown. Strive, and conquer through him, the Lord on your behalf. Then they are tested, like gold in a furnace by these. Those who are dross, however, are known there by these tests, and are cast out, like slag, when they give a hand to their adversary. And they find the guilty from the crown, because of the slackness of their mind, or perhaps because of their pride, that they were not equal to the power of that hidden one who with the saints is mentioned for their help. For the power of the helper is not weak, strong in all and able, victorious over all and always victorious, in the body of his mortals, when with them he descends to the arena. But it is evident that those who are purified are purified without him.

These are those who are stripped of him by their own will, because of their folly, that they are not equal to that power which is the helper of the righteous. They also perceive, and in the times of the generation, these were: that they were empty of the power of custom, that which in all the generations the righteous and the ascetics used to see in themselves. For how do they perceive? They see indeed in themselves that their guilt is upon them, and the afflictions of the contest are hard for them to bear, those by which in all times their pure victory was found for them. And that agitation of error, which moves the mind with shame, in these times, which was stirred up with wrath like a storm, they are not able to find in themselves. But those whose foundation is weak, not only from these contests and those like them, but also from the sound of the leaves of trees they are frightened. And in a slight distress from hunger and a small illness they are guilty and deny, and turn to their belly. The true and the chosen, however, not even from herbs and vegetables do they become satisfied. But even when roots and dry grasses are served to them, they are not thus captured that before the time they open their mouth for tasting.

But when they fall to the ground, and the body is cast down, and the eyes are darkened from the power of the body’s dissolution, and the soul is brought near to the mouth from distress, even then they do not give a hand to justification, to fall from their firm will. For it is fitting for them to be tormented on account of love, by labors that surpass the surplus, more than these present lives which time and all their comforts consume. And when distresses are received by them, they rejoice, for they know that it is He who perfects them. And not only because of the wounds of the body that are inflicted upon them are they not divided over the love of Christ, but even up to the departure from this life, it is fitting for them to receive its reasons, and they are not separated.